Magic: A Chronicle of Mimasu
by H Max Marius
Summary: A Grandmother's Secret : A Father's Love : A Young Girl's Special Gift :: This began as a Susanfic, and then Magic happened. :: 1st Draft written between May 13 and May 24, 2006 :: Please review, I will take reviews into account when I revise
1. Dramatis Personae and reader notes

_**Dramatis Personae**_

_Annette (Magic or Annie) Lucille Temple_

_Jason Allen Temple_

_Margaret (Maggie) Annette Perkins-Temple_

_Mimasu (Susan Pevensie-Temple)_

_Mrs. Helen_

_Ms. Bernice_

_Lucy Pevensie_

_Edmund Pevensie_

_Aslan_

_Tirbolan_

_Peter Pevensie_

_King Aurailic_

_Aureilia_

_Thank you to C.S.Lewis for creating such a beautiful place as Narnia, and then encouraging novice writers by leaving such a huge question (what became of Susan?) for us to cut our teeth on! _

_Thank You Andrew Adamson for the wonderful(ly addictive) movie! _

_As Lewis was guided by his faith in creating Narnia, I have tried to follow the themes and make use of some of the unanswered questions(Why did the Emperor Beyond the Sea and Aslan create all the many worlds in the wood? What would make Aslan fear death a__s he so clearly did?) in crafting this story. _

_Was I trying to read God's mind? What author doesn't?_

_Songs Referenced here...Look them up, buy them, sing along._

"_Little Miss Magic" from Coconut Telegraph -Jimmy Buffett_

"_Delaney Talks to Statues" from Fruitcakes -Jimmy Buffett_

"_Lord of the Dance" -Sydney Carter_

_Sometimes, a fortune cookie fortune just fits._

_And Now, I present you with:_

_A Grandmother's Secret_

_A Father's Love_

_A Young Girl's Special Gift_

_**Magic:**_

_The Chronicle of Mimasu_


	2. Paravel Valley

**Paravel Valley**

_1_

"Hey Magic! You all packed?" Jason Temple called to the back of the house.

"Daddy, I'm right here."

"Where? Inside that monster suitcase?"

"Daddy!" Singsonged out in exasperation as nine year old Annette Lucille Temple, known to her father as 'Little Miss Magic' - Magic for short, stomped around to stand between the suitcase and her father. She enjoyed playing games with her father, but she'd just gotten through dragging the aforementioned suitcase from her room at the back of the house and considering it came up to her chest, and was packed with over a month's worth of everything, she felt she deserved a bit of a break this time.

"Oh there you are." He knelt down to give her a hug. "So, are you ready to go spend the summer with Mimasu?"

Annie's bright smile at the hug she'd manipulated out of her father fell into the slight frown she wore when thinking hard. "I don't know, we've only ever talked on the phone and written cards," mostly saying thank you for the most fun gifts, "do you think she'll like me?"

Jason leaned back from the hug, "Magic," he tipped her nose with his index finger, "I happen to know, she already does! Not only that, she insisted you stay with her while Mom and I are out of the country." Jason looked down at the very adult sized suitcase his pint sized daughter had brought out. "Is that everything?"

"Nope! Gotta go get my pack!" And she flounced off down the hall, oblivious to the incredulous stare on her father's face.

Jason shook his head and carried the very large suitcase out to the van.

_2_

Many, many hours later, Annie awoke to the crunch of gravel under the mini-van's wheels. Having been lulled to sleep by the hum of wheels on pavement, the crunch-pop noise was something new.

"Almost there Magic." Maggie Temple had long ago surrendered on the topic of Annie's nickname. "Just made the turn onto Paravel Drive. If you look through the woods over there you can see Mimasu's house on the hillside."

Hillside? Annie had grown up near the coast and had never before seen real mountains. To her it looked like someone had taken the world and tilted it in all kinds of crazy directions. She followed the direction her mother was pointing, then realized she wasn't looking UP enough. So she looked UP more and then UP even some more before she finally saw the house sitting just short of the top of the mountain. She could see the sunlight reflecting off the window glass overlooking the valley already being shadowed by the next ridge west. "Wow," in a hushed voice, "Is Mimasu an Angel?"

Jason covered up a laugh while Maggie answered, "No dear, why?"

"Living that high up, must be close to heaven."

The rest of the driveway was one new adventure after another for Annie. There were the deer that ran past the car. The sharp turns where she could look back down the hill to the road they had just driven. Daddy even said he saw a bear, though she didn't and wasn't sure if he was making it up or not.

Finally, they pulled up behind the house. From the valley below, it appeared small and blended into the mountainside. Up close, it sprawled across a small, mostly level clearing that edged up to the drop-off of the ridge. While covered in wood shake siding, it gave the feel of being more of a castle than a house. On the north end there was a round turret rising from the roof line with what appeared to be a glass walled room at the top. Along the south side of the house was a long glass room with a flat, open deck on top of it, the railing of which was laid out like battlements on the castle wall. The windows on much of the rest of the house were all tall and narrow, on the east side some were even stained glass.

As they were stretching the kinks out after exiting the van, a tall, stately, grey haired lady came out of the house toward them.

Seeing her, Jason walked over and gave her a hug. "Mimasu! You remember Maggie."

Annie's mom shuffled over to give her greetings "It's great to see you again, sorry, I think my right foot is asleep from the drive."

"And this is Magic."

Mimasu's eye's flickered briefly to Jason before returning to Annie with a very bright smile.

Annie walked over to her, unsure if she should hug, shake hands, curtsey or hide behind her daddy.

With an elegance that belied her 80 years, Mimasu knelt down to Annie. "Magic?" The query hung in the air.

As if on cue, her father started humming. Annie couldn't resist singing along for Mimasu. _"Your mother is the only other woman for me... Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be."_

"You and that Jimmy Buffett song." Maggie whispered, punching Jason on the shoulder in exasperation.

Mimasu's laugh was like the sound of the stream they had driven past on the driveway, light and cheerful, with a sense that it knew and might share secrets. "Little Miss Magic indeed." Then something about her eyes changed. The smile was still there, but it was like she wasn't looking at Annie, but somewhere just short of her. Quietly, as if to herself, she said, "In this family, that might just be enough."

With that somewhat cryptic remark, the moment passed. Mimasu stood and led them into the house. "Your parents know of some of my eccentricities, Pet, but I'll let you in on one big one now. Every since I was young, I've never been comfortable in a house unless it had lots and lots of rooms. When I get bored, I go exploring in the house. Sometimes, even I am amazed at what I come across.

"Jason, I've set up your rooms on the third floor. Red ribbon for you and Maggie, pink for..." she smiled at Annie "Magic, here. I'd like to show her around some while you get settled in."

Annie was led through the house, Mimasu showed her the kitchen and introduced her to the cook, Bernice. "We have it on good authority that she will allow a certain amount of snacking so long as it doesn't spoil ones dinner."

After the big glassed in room Mimasu called a solarium they went up to the second floor. "Office, storage, hobbies, knick knacks, paddy whacks, and the occasional dog bone." Annie giggled wildly at that. Here they met Helen, the three day a week house keeper, whose husband, it turned out, maintained the lawn every other week. As they walked on, Annie could hear her humming the nursery song.

At the end of the corridor, they started up a spiral staircase. "Third floor is all bedrooms. You, I am sure, will explore most, if not all, of them very soon." As the staircase continued up past the third floor Annie realized that they were climbing the tower she had seen from outside. Mimasu paused briefly on a landing and flipped a switch in the wall beside a small door. "Ceiling fan in the tower. Helps keep it comfortable up there. Take my hand and close your eyes."

Mimasu led her the rest of the way up the stairs. "Keep your eyes closed a little longer." Annie felt herself being guided around the room. Mimasu lifted Annie's arms and placed them on a rail in front of her. "Okay Magic" she whispered, "abracadabra, open your eyes."

The view from the tower was amazing. To the west, the sun was setting behind a far distant mountain ridge. Directly below, in the twilight of the valley, fireflies twinkled. A small herd of deer, maybe the same ones she had seen earlier, crossed a clearing near the stream in the valley. Then a very adult thought struck her. "There are no other houses."

"No dear, there are not. I bought the entire valley a long time ago. It reminded me of someplace very special and I decided that I would protect it as best I could. I let scouts camp in exchange for helping keep track of the wildlife, and of course there are the animals that have always lived here. The land is protected against sport hunting so the animals feel relatively secure here."

"Is that an eagle?" Annie pointed at a bird gliding silently in the light above the valley.

Mimasu picked up a set of binoculars, "No dear," after looking, "that's Stormwing, one of the local hawks. He was blown into the house several years ago and I had to nurse him back to health. I'm pretty sure he is grateful as I occasionally do still find dead mice on the sun deck.

_3_

Annie leaned her face into the cool space by the window and watched the rain splashing around the stables. Her parents had left for the airport early this morning, and she had so hoped that today would be nice and Mimasu would take her riding. Unfortunately, the 'scattered showers' that had been forecast turned into a steady drizzle. Looking out across the valley, she could actually see the clouds moving through the trees on the far ridge.

There was a light rapping at the door and the housekeeper leaned in. "Oh, hi Magic. Mis'rable day. Would you like me to change your bed?"

"Okay." She sighed and her breath condensed against the cool glass, "I'm bored. Can I help you for a while?"

"Sure, don't see why not. Your great-granna may come across as a proper English lady, but she's turned her hand to helpin' with the upkeep and cleanin' as long as I've been here."

Annie started peeling the blankets and sheets off the bed while Helen gathered clean sheets from the linen closet down the hall. "Mrs. Helen?"

"Yes dearie?" came the muffled reply from the corridor.

"English Lady? Isn't Mimasu American?"

"Sure is, votes in every election, even for dogcatcher." Helen grinned from the door at Annie. "But your great-granna was born in England back before World War Two." Helen bustled across to the bed. "Met her an American Gent, as she puts it, named Alexander Temple. It was a few years after the war. Said that 'In spite of his backwoods colonial upbringing, he had a courtly manner that swept me right off my feet.' Shortly after that they got married and moved to the States.

"Not sure when, must have been the early sixties, she took the Oath and became a naturalized citizen. There, all finished with the bed. I'll just dust things off while you put all your furry friends back."

Annie started returning her menagerie of stuffed animals to the bed. "So Mimasu grew up in England? Wow."

"Not just England, London." Helen finished up the dusting. "C'mon-long Magic."

"London… I wonder if she ever met the Queen?"

Helen laughed. The rest of the day passed in a rush as they moved from room to room on the upper two floors making games out of dusting, sweeping and vacuuming.

"I say young lady, I haven't had that much fun cleaning in quite a while." Helen leaned back against the closed door of the room they'd just finished. "I'm plum pooped, what say we drop in the kitchen and see if there's any tea or punch in the fridge?"

"What about the last room?" Annie indicated the door about five feet further down the hall on the opposite side.

"Oh, I don't do that room. Your great-granna saves that one for herself."

"What's in there?"

"Well, I've only been in there a few times, but I think its mostly stuff from when she was still in England. I think she goes there to remember what it was like when she was a little girl."

Helen ambled down the hallway toward the stairs. Annie gave the last doorway a long look then followed her down to the kitchen.

_4_

The next several days were nice, so Annie and Mimasu went on picnicking rides around the valley. Annie had taken riding lessons since she was five, but she'd never actually ridden before for the purpose of getting somewhere. They splashed in the stream by the clearing, rode the driveway from house to highway and back. But the most special trip was when they rode to the opposite ridge and picnicked on a rock outcropping.

"We'll want to stay back from the edge a bit Magic." Mimasu warned. "Our footing is not all that great and it would be a long way for us to fall."

"Wow, the view from here is as beautiful as the view from the tower!" Annie shivered with delight.

"Look across to the house."

Annie's heart rose in her throat. The sun was gleaming off the solarium, tower and assorted windows. From here it looked like a fairy-tale castle. It was even more beautiful than the view from the tower. "My camera... I've got to get a picture of this." Annie made several shots with the digital camera her mother had given her last birthday. Some of the house, some of the valley, most with Mimasu in the picture.

"Oh Mimasu, this is like a fairy-tale come true." Annie threw herself into a hug around her waist and didn't notice how her great-grandmother stiffened at the mention of fairy-tales.

A light breeze blew over the ridge rustling the leaves. Annie closed her eyes and listened as the trees creaked and shushed. "It almost sounds as if they're talking to each other Mimasu." She opened her eyes and smiling, looked up at her great-grandmother. Mimasu smiled back, stood up straight, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Annie copied her, listening to the trees gossip as the breeze grew stronger.

As the breeze faded, and the trees fell silent, Mimasu leaned over to Annie. "So Magic, have you ever shot a bow?"

_5_

On the ride back to the house. Annie found out about Mimasu's love of archery. How she had a hutch full of trophies from competitions over the years, and that it was time for her to start practicing seriously for the Senior Games later in the summer.

That afternoon, they found themselves on the lawn behind the house. Mimasu had kited Annie out with a wrist guard, string pad and a lightweight bow.

"Annette, first lesson, bows are dangerous, never point a drawn bow anywhere but at your target. Not even in jest. Pick up your bow."

Annie picked up the bow from the stand in front of her.

"Hold the grip firmly in your left hand with your arm straight out beside you."

Annie matched the position.

"Cock your wrist in slightly." Mimasu demonstrated. "Like this. Do not lock your elbow, use your arm muscles to keep the arm stiff." Annie copied her. "Good, now without an arrow, use your first two fingers to grab the string with the pad. Excellent. Gently pull the string back across your chest like so." Again, Mimasu demonstrated proper form and again Annie copied her.

"Feel the weight and tension?"

Annie nodded.

"Gently ease the string back to the neutral position." Annie did so. "Never draw and release without an arrow nocked. If you draw without an arrow, always unload the tension as we just did.

"Archery is quite an upper body workout, it's good for muscle tone. It is also very good for concentration, depth perception, and eye-hand coordination."

"Pick up an arrow." Annie selected one from the quiver on the stand in front of her. "From front to back, the point is called the tip, the body is called the shaft. On the back, the feathers are called fletchings, they guide and stabilize the arrow in flight. At the very back is the nock, this fits around the string on the nock rest, which is the little bead there on your bowstring. Notice that the arrows have three fletchings. When fitting the nock to the string always set the arrow so that one fletching points perpendicular to the bowstring." Mimasu demonstrated and Annie copied.

"Watch how I draw aim and fire." Annie watched as Mimasu selected an arrow, nocked it, drew, aimed at the target fifty feet away, took a careful breath, held it then released the string. The bow made a twanging noise followed a moment later by a thwack as the arrow impacted inside the center most yellow ring on the target. "The arrow does not fly straight to the target, you have to shoot it a little high so that it drops into the target at the right point. Nock your arrow, draw, take aim at the near target, tip down just a bit there. Fire when ready."

Annie took a deep breath, held it released the string. The arrow leapt off the bow, missed to the right of the target and buried itself in the grass ten feet beyond. Meanwhile the string had snapped over against her lower arm, just barely getting on the wrist-guard when making contact. In spite of the leather guard, it still stung. "Owww."

"Tell me what went wrong."

"I don't know."

"Think about it, which side of the target is the arrow on?"

"The right."

"Were you aiming down the center of the target?"

"Yes."

"So what could have made the arrow miss right?"

Annie thought hard a moment.

"I moved."

"How?"

Annie thought hard again. "When I released, my left arm jumped, I think maybe my elbow locked and my whole arm pulled towards my front."

"Very good. The locked elbow is also why the bowstring slapped you on the wrist guard. If it had been where you first wanted to wear it, the string would have gone under the guard and that would have really hurt. So how do you fix it?"

"I have to concentrate on holding my left arm still when releasing with my right."

"Very good. Try again."

Annie shot again. Her arm still moved, but not as much. This arrow fell short of the target, but on a line that would have hit with the proper range.

"Much better. Keep shooting, take your time. Don't worry about reaching the target just yet, just try to shoot down the line to it's center."

Annie kept shooting. By the time she had run out of arrows, she was hitting on the target. Mimasu called a halt to go collect arrows. "Never ever go down range unless all of the bows are resting on their stands. That way you know everyone is paying attention to safety." They collected Annie's arrows and took them back to the quiver then went down to Mimasu's target. All of the arrows were in the yellow. Many were touching each other. Unlike Annie's which were barely in the target, most of Mimasu's were buried to half their depth and took some effort to pull out of the target. Twice more they fired their arrows at the targets. By the end, more of Annie's were hitting than missing, and a few were even decently stuck.

That night they sat in the living room discussing the day. Annie showed Mimasu the pictures that she had downloaded from her camera to her mom's old laptop computer. After a while she noticed that her arms were trembling.

"Mimasu? My arms are shaking."

"Don't worry Magic. You were using your muscles in a new way today, they just have to adjust to what you want them to do. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Mimasu returned a moment later with a tube of creme that she rubbed on Annie's arms. At first it was cool, then it warmed up and the trembling stopped. "Off to bed now Magic. I have to run some errands tomorrow but you should be fine here in the house. I've noticed you eyeing the library when you walk by it, what say you browse through it tomorrow, hmmm?"

_6_

"Morning Magic, Juice?"

Annie padded into the kitchen wearing her pajamas, robe and bunny slippers. "Morning Ms. Bernice. And milk please."

"Cereal and Toast?" Bernice was already reaching into the cabinet for Annie's favorite cereal.

Climbing onto a barstool by the breakfast counter, "With grape jelly?"

"Grape jam okay?

"Sure! Morning Mimasu!"

Annie's great-grandmother came into the kitchen already dressed for the day's errands. A business suit in a feminine cut, her long hair done up in a bun and tasteful jewelry. "Bernice, I will be at the brokers until one and then I will be at Williford and Blount's until four. I should be back here by seven for a late dinner." She took a sip of her morning tea. "Magic, I pulled down a few titles you might be interested in and set them on the table in the library. I would rather you not climb the ladders unless Bernice or Helen is around, but if you do, be very careful, it is a long way to fall from the top shelves."

"Yes Mimasu."

"Perk up little one. We will play some games this evening and go for another ride tomorrow."

"Really!"

"You have my word of honor."

Annie bounced off the stool and gave her great-grandmother a big hug.

"Oh, I will be stopping by the post office as well, If I know your father and mother, it is about time for the first of many, many post cards."

Mimasu left a few minutes later. Annie heard the car on the way down the drive. After only a few more minutes, Annie had finished her breakfast and had helped clear the counter. She then skipped across the living room to the library.

Both of her parents had taught her to love books. She had read the entire Harry Potter series, and cried herself to sleep after the last one.

On entering the library, she paused.

The library was built octagonal on the corner opposite the tower. It rose through the first two stories of the house with a balcony around two thirds of the circumference. The other third was a massive stone fireplace. On the mantle were a set of pan pipes, a pair of hurricane lanterns, and an old framed black and white picture of a light haired young lady. There were two high backed soft burgundy, leather chairs in front of the fireplace, each with a small table and lamp on opposing sides. Opposite the chairs was a mid sized table in dark wood. Inlaid on it's surface was a stylized lion.

On the table was a stack of small, old books, and a note.

_My dearest Magic,_

_Books are powerful things. Some even have a life of their own. What you see before you are some of my oldest and dearest friends. I know you like to read yourself to sleep, if you wish to read these outside the library, please let me know as I can get __you your own copies of these titles. These are first editions and each of these tales were special gifts to me. Please treat them with honor and respect._

_Love,_

_Mimasu_

Annie carefully picked through the titles on the table. She and her mom had already read about half the titles in the stack. None of the rest looked really interesting. So she spent some time looking around the room at the shelves she could reach. It was clear that most of the books were old, and that Mimasu took very good care of them as the leather covers gleamed and smelled faintly of fine oils. She thought about climbing one of the ladders to see a higher shelf, but when she placed her slipper on the rung, not only did the ladder move a little, but the slick sole of the slipper slid on the rung.

The clock in the living room chimed 8 and Annie decided to head back up to her room to get dressed for the day. She'd come back down after and find something interesting to read, and then she'd tell Mimasu all about it, just like with Mom.

_7_

Annie chose her khaki hiking shorts, a pink t-shirt, a matching ribbon for her sandy brown pony tail, and her new sneakers. On the way out of the room, she grabbed the backpack with her camera and laptop. Heading back downstairs, she decided to cut across the second floor to check out the library's upper level before going back downstairs to read her selections. As she turned off of the staircase a shiver ran across her body and she froze mid-step. Daddy always said that when you had an unexpected shiver, pay attention, your body is trying to tell you something important that you might have forgotten.

Slowly she stood up straight and looked around. She was standing beside the door to what Mrs. Helen had said was Mimasu's special room. What was it Mrs. Helen had said? _'I think she goes there to remember what it was like when she was a little girl.'_

Mimasu had given her leave to explore the house, she'd even encouraged her to do so without restrictions, so Annie felt no misgivings about taking a look around that particular room. 'Mimasu's really old' Annie thought. 'It'd be cool to find out what makes her feel young. I might even find an idea for a cool gift to say thank you for the great things she's given me.'

Annie reached for the door and turned the knob. Slowly the door swung open as if pulled from within. Annie didn't know Mimasu always, _a__lways_, kept this door locked. Not from fear or for security, but out of the belief that some private things should remain private.

She immediately noticed that this room was very different. If Annie had known the term, she would have described the decoration as medieval. Swords, Shields and tapestries hung on the walls. The door opened onto a raised section of floor in the middle of which sat a large, intricately carved, high-backed, wooden chair. The chair faced the sunken part of the floor that extended to the south wall where a large wooden double door could be opened onto the deck. Tapestries hung on opposing walls on either side of the Chair so that someone in the chair could turn their head and see them to either side. In the tapestry on the right, two similar chairs were occupied by a young man in the nearer and a boy in the further. To the left, a third chair was imaged, occupied by a young girl.

The east wall contained several stained glass windows. The first depicted four children walking in a snowy wood. The colors tended to greys and whites. The second depicted a broken stone slab with a patch of clear yellow glass above it. The third depicted a lion with a mane like sunshine at the top and knights and horses charging at the bottom. The final window depicted a Sword, a Shield, a Dagger, a Flask, a Bow and Quiver, all surrounding what looked like a hunting horn.

On several tables around the walls were a number of artifacts. On one sat a Bow, Quiver and horn like those in the last window. On another, were a jeweled flask and silver dagger. On the next table sat four crowns beneath a sword and shield hanging on the wall.

In the corner between the last window and the outside door stood a table holding numerous photographs. Many more hung on the walls on either side. All were of four children in various groupings, together, and separate, with different adults usually part of the image. One particular picture appeared to have been taken in front of a large house, with four children, an old man with white hair and an old lady with darker hair. Written in the lower corner was 'P.Kirke's - 1941 - After the Blitz - Home tomorrow'. Annie did the math in her head. Mimasu would have been 14 in 1941, therefore the older girl in the pictures must be Mimasu.

Something about the room felt very special to Annie. 'I've got to remember this place,' she thought. Reaching into her pack she pulled out her camera and took pictures of the displays, tapestries, and windows.

As she turned to get one last shot of the entire hall, she noticed a small chest in an alcove behind the chair. After taking the picture, Annie felt drawn to the chest. Grandma Perkins kept old dresses in a chest like that. What would Mimasu have? One of the outfits she was wearing in the pictures?

It was dark in the alcove and the chest was larger than it had looked. She lifted the lid, the air within smelled like apples, but the lack of light kept her from seeing anything. She leaned in and there appeared to be cloth folded in the bottom. She reached out to try to touch what had to be an old dress.

All of a sudden she lost her balance and flipped into the chest, only, 'if this is a chest, why am I still falling?'

"Ayyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!" Her piercing scream echoed into the darkness.


	3. Magic Makes A World

**Magic Makes a World**

_1_

Annie was in total darkness. All she could see were the little flashes like you see when you rub your eyes a little too hard. She could not feel anything, no breeze, no up, no down, nothing. She was still young enough to cry when scared, and she proceeded to do so. It seemed to her like she cried forever, until finally, she couldn't cry anymore.

At home, when she was scared, her Dad would sing. She wished Daddy were here now to sing for her. But of course, he wasn't. "Maybe singing to myself will cheer me up." She gave one last sniffle to clear her nose and then began humming. The humming made her feel a little better so she kept humming. As she hummed, she noticed that things weren't quite so dark anymore, she thought she could see her arm in front of her, like on a dark cloudy night with no moon, only instead of the arm being darker than the surroundings, it was just barely lighter. She decided to sing the chorus...

_"Father, Daughter_

_Down by the Water_

_Shells sink, dreams float_

_Life's good on our boat"_

As she sang, she noticed that things were getting even lighter. She was still surrounded by darkness, but now she could tell the difference in shade between her shirt, pants and skin. She still felt really sad because she was lost, but the singing was taking away her urge to cry. She switched back into humming as she couldn't remember the words of the verse.

By now she could see the colors of her shirt, pants and skin, but she was still surrounded by total blackness. All she could see was herself kneeling in darkness. What she neither heard nor saw were two children standing beyond the edge of the light. They were watching her with awestruck expressions. That they could see her was not surprising, that they could see each other is a result of another story. They were whispering back and forth.

"Lu, what's she doing?"

"I think she's singing."

"But the light? He's the only one I've ever seen do that in a new world."

"I know, Ed, maybe it's why he sent us to find her."

"Do you think we should stop her from singing?"

"I think it's to late for that now. The process has begun."

"I'll go let him know we've found her, and what's happened."

"I'll stay here with her then."

The boy, Ed, turned and ran off further into the darkness. The girl, who appeared to be about Annie's age and bore a striking resemblance to her, slowly walked into the circle of light. Light that was now clearly coming from Annie.

Annie hummed and faked her way through the next verse so she could get to the chorus again. In her head, she could clearly see and hear her father singing while holding her in his arms.

_Father, Daughter_

_Down by the water_

_Shells sink, dreams float_

_Life's good on our boat"_

At first Annie thought the other voice was in her head, she'd closed her eyes to concentrate on remembering the verses. But as she continued the chorus, the voice became closer and stronger, singing along with hers. She opened her eyes to see the young girl kneeling in front of her singing along on the chorus. They finished it together and Annie finally felt like smiling.

"Are you lost too?" Annie asked the new girl.

"Lost? No. Actually, I was looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Annie recognized that the girl had an accent like Mimasu's only stronger. "Do I know you?"

"Gracious me, I've been rude. I'm Lucy." She held out her right hand.

"Hello Lucy, I'm Annie." She took the hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Well that's comforting."

"What?"

"On an earlier occasion, I had to explain the whole process of shaking hands to someone."

Annie laughed. "That could be a pain. Meet someone. Okay grip the hand...not that hard..." mock grimace "shake it _gently_, no, up and down. Very good, you can let go now. Yep real pain."

They both giggled outrageously.

"So if you were looking for me, can you tell me where I am?"

"It's kind of hard to say. The best answer was nowhere, but that isn't true anymore, now it is probably best just to say that you are here."

Annie giggled again.

"What's funny?"

"I just got this image of one of those maps you see in the mall, but instead of the arrow connecting to 'You Are Here', it says Annie."

Lucy got a rather puzzled look on her face. "Mall?"

"You know, the Mall. Shopping, mom dragging dad from store to store to store. Going to the mall is almost as much fun as Christmas morning."

"I'm afraid I've never been to a Mall." Lucy grinned, "Tell me all about it, it sounds fun."

Annie described everything she could remember, which was actually quite a lot, about the mall back home. The shops, the people, the clothes, the carts. When she started describing the food court, her stomach rumbled loudly. "Oh, I've been here for hours, it must be well past lunch time."

She reached around to her pack, opened it and began rummaging around. Lucy stared at the strange and wondrous items Annie pulled from the bag. There was a small silver box with a strap on it, and a larger charcoal colored box, about the size one would keep a good necklace in. There was what looked like a tangled ball of black strings. Finally, Annie pulled out a number of small packets.

"Fortune cookie?" Annie offered one to Lucy. "Xiaoxia, she's the hostess at my favorite resturant, always gives me extra when daddy's not looking."

"What is it?"

"Just a cookie with a fortune on a slip of paper inside of it. Here watch." Annie crushed one of the cookie packets in her hand. She then carefully opened the wrapper, reached in and pulled out the fortune. "For you, today all things are new" she read. "Here, you try." She handed one to Lucy while she ate the cookie from the pack.

Lucy crushed the packet and extracted the fortune. "Lost relations are returning to you." She read. "How strange. Are they usually right?" Lucy stuffed the fortune in a pocket.

"Not really, so far as I can tell. Usually they're rather vague, which means they don't need much to come true."

They ate their way through the packs of cookies, reading the fortunes. Annie opened one last cookie and pulled out the fortune. "Nothing in the world is accomplished without passion."

"Indeed."

_2_

The deep voice coming from behind her had startled Annie, although Lucy hadn't reacted. Annie turned around and was faced with an indistinct being within the most beautiful light. The voice spoke again. "Annette Lucille Temple, known to your friends as Magic, I understand that you have alreadybegun the creation of this world."

"I what?"

Lucy leaned to her ear. "The singing. You sang this world into being."

"But you sang too?"

"After you started. Besides, I've sung in the nothing before and never been able to do what you did."

"And what was that?"

"You're glowing."

"Huh?"

"All of the light in this world currently is coming from you and me." The voice spoke again. "By singing with what was deepest in your heart, you have begun the birth of this world. You have sung both love and loneliness. There are much worse traits on which to anchor a world, but there is much left to be done. Are you ready to complete the task?"

"I'm not sure I would know what to sing next."

"That is fine young one, I can sing for you, but it is best to have a plan. Once the birth of a world has begun, time becomes short to shape it properly, we must plan quickly."

"Can Lucy help?"

"You may seek her advice, but the decisions and choices are ultimately yours."

"Okay," the realization that she was responsible for how this world would come out suddenly hit her, "I'm open to suggestions."

"Balance is most important in any world, for without bad, there is no way to measure good. The Valiant and the Evil must co-exist. So must Love and Hate. Sacrifice and Selfishness. Loneliness and Togetherness... For each trait, it's opposite should be spontaneously generated. I suggest, however that you leave such details to me. Concentrate instead on the scope of your world. What will it be?"

"Well... I know it should have great beauty, you know, places where the people can go to be inspired, like I am by the view from Mimasu's tower."

"How beautiful?"

"Beautiful enough that the memory always brings a smile to your face, yet when seeing it, the thought of not seeing it hurts."

"Very good, every world should have such places. Go on." The voice began humming.

"Hmmm. It should have many different kinds of people, I've always liked fairy tales and magical stories, can it have people and animals like that?"

The voice stopped humming. "Magic, this is your world, if you so wish it, it shall be."

She whispered to Lucy and Lucy nodded in the affirmative. Annie turned back to the light. "Great adventure and great peace for those who seek them out." Lucy whispered in her ear. "And people of courage and honor to both quest and assist those who are questing."

Lucy stepped up beside Annie and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Magic, I think I know your inspiration for this. What you are attempting to create has already existed, and yet is no more. I found that place a long long time ago. It is fitting though, that a new such place exist for others to find. I would be honored to visit and watch over this world of yours. For a moment, Lucy looked much taller, with a regal bearing and flowing golden hair, but then Annie blinked, and the young girl was again standing beside her.

The voice began humming again and then transitioned into a low croon in a language that Annie didn't know, but felt deep in her heart that she understood. In the east the newborn sun rose above jagged snow-capped mountains. As she watched the sunlight advance across the lands and waters, tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. Everywhere the light touched, grass, trees, even animals and all the many kinds of people she had imagined sprang from the ground. In the seas, waves and wavelets became fish and whales and merfolk. As the light streamed past the high plateau on which they sat, Annie turned to watch it flow past them.

Suddenly she gripped hold of Lucy's hand. The voice that had been singing behind her belonged to a tremendous Lion. A Lion far more beautiful than any other creature she had ever seen, so beautiful that she wept at the sight of him. Just as suddenly, a sharp realization made her release the other girl's hand and she whispered one word.

"Aslan."


	4. A Royal Reunion

**A Royal Reunion**

_1_

Aslan paused in the song. "Lucy, I will finish this. Take Annie for a walk in the woods below. When I am done, I will join you in the far clearing."

Lucy and Annie collected Annie's pack and climbed down the hillside into the forest below. As they went, they were passed by numerous animals and people of all the many types who were climbing the hill. Annie heard the song resume behind her, but now her thoughts were both clearer and far more confused than before. Nonstop since she had seen the Lion, her mind had returned to a movie she had seen the previous winter with her sunday school class, one that was based on a book she and her mom had read. "Lucy...?"

The other girl stopped and looked at her puzzled. "Annie?"

Annie didn't hear her. "Lucy... Lucy... Lucy Pevensie!"

Now it was Lucy's turn to be shocked. "How... who... We've never met before today... have we?"

Annie's brain was picking up a head of steam now, and didn't register the other girl's confusion. Annie grabbed Lucy's shoulders staring at her with great intensity. "Am I in Narnia?"

A look of deep sadness came over Lucy's face. "No Magic, Narnia is no more. But this world you have helped create has much of what made Narnia special to me. I stand by my pledge to watch over this land as my family once did Narnia." Curiosity wiped the sadness from Lucy's face. "How do you know me?"

_"The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe"_ by C.S.Lewis. My Mom and I read it when I was little. I spent the next year opening every closet in the house looking for magical lands, looks like I finally found one." Annie flashed Lucy a quick grin. "Last year they made a really good movie. Of course the girl they got to play Lucy doesn't look much like you. For one thing, she had really dark hair."

"Lewis? Oh, the nice old man Digory introduced us to after our first adventures. I'd forgotten, so he actually did write our stories?"

"Well, some of them. There are seven books, Mom and I cried and cried when we read _T__he_ _Last Battle. _We felt so sorry for Queen Susan. She may no longer have been a friend of Narnia, but to have lost her entire family..." a strange thought began tickling at the back of Annie's mind.

"Well, my sister decided she had a different path to follow, one rooted more deeply in the world from which we came. I have come to accept her choice, and I look forward to the day when she rejoins us."

"If you were all on the train, how did Lewis get the story?"

"Aslan told him."

"Oh, okay." Annie was still puzzled by the answer, but her recent encounter with the Great Lion eased the doubts.

They continued their conversation with lighter subjects, the weather, what this or that cloud resembled, the beauty of this new world until they reached the clearing. On the edge of the clearing were three perfectly positioned rocks. Two at the height of chairs and the third at the perfect height for a table. They each took a seat.

"So Magic, tell me more about your world." Lucy began.

Annie pulled the strange grey box out of her backpack. "How about I show you instead!"

She set the box on the table rock so that they both could see it. Working a catch on the front, Annie opened the box, but instead of fine jewelry, as Lucy had originally expected, the surface was covered with a flat typewriter.

"What's this?"

"Oh, it's my laptop. I keep all my pictures in here... Soon as it boots up, I'll show you!" Annie hit the power switch. "My Mom gave it to me when she got a new one. It's slow, but it's mine! I think I'll take some shots while we wait." Annie then pulled out the silver box with the strap. Opening a flap in the front, a black cylinder extended.

"Here, stand beside me." Annie put her arm around Lucy's shoulder, held the box at arm's length and pushed a button on top. There was a quick strobing flash. "Done! Here, take a look!"

Lucy stared at the small picture on the back of the camera in amazement.

"It's digital. No film, the picture displays on the screen." Annie reached into the pack. "Or, using this wire, I can move the picture into the laptop and keep it there." She proceeded to demonstrate with the now booted laptop, dumping the entire contents of the camera into a folder labeled with the days date (or at least what she thought the date was). Annie brought up the picture. "Hey, you know, we look kind of alike."

"We do don't we." Lucy grinned, Annie's enthusiasm was infectious.

"I'll start with my house... and the Mall." Annie selected a folder and began a slide show, describing the various pictures. Her bedroom, Mom, Daddy the yard, the neighbor's puppy, her bestest friend, the shops in the Mall.

"Right now, I'm staying, well I was staying at Mimasu's house while my parents are out of the country." She selected another folder. "This is my favorite picture from there so far."

Annie pulled up the picture of the house from across the valley, with the sun glinting on the windows. Lucy stared at the image on the screen. "In a strange way, it reminds me of Cair Paravel."

"That's funny, that sounds like the name of the road Mimasu lives on, Paravel Drive. Here's a view of the valley between."

"Your Mimasu lives in an enchanted place. From what I remember, there weren't many in your world."

Annie brought up the next image, a beautifully framed shot of Mimasu on the ridge with the house behind her. "And this is Mima..."

"Susan!" Lucy exclaimed.

_2_

Annie stared at Lucy like she was crazy. "This is my Great Grandmother. Her name's Mimasu."

Lucy's look bored deep into Annie's eyes. "Your Great Grandmother?"

"Yes..." Lucy swept Annie into a huge hug, bursting into tears at the same time.

"Annie, Annie, Annie, you really are Magic!" Lucy's tears transitioned to laughter. "You should put more belief into those fortune cookies of yours as well!" She pulled the fortune out of her pocket. "Lost relations are returning to you!" Lucy began dancing Annie all over the clearing.

"Whoa, hang on, let me catch up."

Lucy stopped dancing and stood there with a huge smile.

"Explain this to me slowly. Who is Mimasu?"

"I'd know her face anywhere. Break down the name. Mi meaning My. Ma for Grandmother. Su for Susan! Your Great Grandmother is my sister... Queen Susan!"

"Wha, huh, I'm a Pevensie? Does that make you like my great grand aunt?"

"I think I prefer cousins. It's easier to say, and definitely not so stuffy. Do you have more pictures? I haven't seen her in so so long."

Awed, Annie led Lucy back to the computer. Lucy oo'd, oh'd and ah'd at each new picture of her long lost sibling until they reached the end of the folder. "Do you have any more?"

"Well there might be some in the pictures I downloaded from the camera a little bit ago." Annie was beginning to accept that she might actually be related to Lucy. "Does this mean I'm a Narnian Princess?"

"Well, if Narnia still existed you would be, but based on what happened when you got here, I'd say you are more than 'Just a Princess.'"

Annie absorbed that as she brought up the last folder. "Got the pictures."

"She still does Archery!"

"Oh yeah! She was teaching me yesterday! It's fun! Although I'm not really any good."

"Yet! After-all, you are Susan's great granddaughter!" The picture advanced while Lucy was looking at Annie. "Wait, go back to the last one." Annie backed up the slide show. "Where is this?"

"Oh, It's Mima...Susan's special room in the house."

"It's the Cair Paravel Throne Room." Lucy stared at the picture.

Annie advanced the slide show through all of the pictures she had taken before falling in the chest. As each shot came up Lucy began sobbing and sobbing harder and harder. When the computer reached the pictures of the tapestries, Lucy let out a wail and threw her arms around Annie. "What's wrong Lu?" Annie stretched an arm into her pack and came out with a package of tissues. "Here, not quite as permanent as what you gave Mr. Tumnus, but who wants all that goop stuffed back in your pocket anyway."

Lucy dried her eyes, blew her nose and took a couple more rasping sobs. "She remembers! Everything about that room is designed to remind her of our life in Narnia. She hasn't forgotten, which means she still believes! Peter and Edmund will be so pleased! Susan is still a friend of Narnia!"


	5. Of Love and Magic and Names

**Of Love and Magic and Names**

_1_

"Dear one, why are _you _crying?" Neither Lucy nor Annie had noticed Aslan arrive in the clearing.

"Oh Aslan! Annie is Susan's Great-Granddaughter!" Lucy ran up to the Lion and buried her face in his mane.

"Indeed, and you only just noticed your resemblance, my child?"

Lucy leaned back and saw the laughter in his eyes. "You knew! And you didn't tell me!"

"Now Lucy, why should I steal from you the joy of this discovery?" Lucy stared hard at Aslan. "Besides, if I had told you you would be looking for Annie, then you would not have been your true self when you met her. You instead would have chosen to look for her as your older self and on finding her, you would have comforted her as a mother comforts a child. I much prefer that you and she became friends before discovering you are family."

"And you also know that Susan remembers, that she is still a friend of Narnia?"

"It has been the work of many of her years, awakening the memories in her dreams. Soon there shall be a joyous reunion, but first...

"Annette Lucille Temple, daughter of Eve, as this worlds creator there is yet another duty for you. This land requires a name."

"A name?"

"Names are powerful. When I call you by your full given name, do you not sit up straighter and pay close attention. When I call you Magic, do you not smile. The same is true of worlds. You need not chose right away, but a choice must be made before you return to your world."

"I have to go back?"

"Yes Annie, you do, but when you leave it will be with the love and honor of an entire world."

"But I have time to think?"

"One should never choose a name lightly."

"Then I will do my best."

"That is all that anyone ever asks." Aslan leaned back and sniffed the air. "Both of you, climb on my back. Let us see this new world Annie has wrought."

_2_

And they were off running to the many corners of the new world. Everywhere they went, great cheers rose. "Hurray, It's Annie and the Lion!" And occasionally, they moved so fast that they caught up with the whispers that preceded their arrival. "The Child and the Great Cat come!" And the people of this new world honored them, and Lucy too, with gifts and love.

They camped and accepted hospitality. They feasted and danced. They wept with both joy and sadness and much time passed in this new world.

During their travels, Aslan explained to Annie about the Deep Magic that she had tapped to create this world, and how she had tapped it. As he explained it, Annie reached out her senses and realized that she could feel the Deep Magic and sense where it was strong or weak. "Aslan, there's something about that hill."

"Indeed, Annie, what do you feel."

They stopped, Annie and Lucy dismounted, and the three of them together climbed the hill. "The Deep Magic is very strong here. It feels dark and cold, and yet there is a flicker of warmth buried beneath it."

"Very good Annie. This is a nexus point. Much of what happens in this world will be shaped by an event or events that take place here."

Lucy suddenly looked very pale. "Aslan..." Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"No, Dear One, we should not predict the events. They may or must occur as will be. It is in the nature of a world to make its own choices once born.

"Annie, as the Deep Magic is bound to this place, this world is bound to you. You will feel what this world feels, be it pain or joy, you shall partake in full measure. You should also know that, without fail, each world's creator shares in their world's fate."

Lucy threw herself into a deep hug around Annie. "Oh, even I feel the power of this place. May we please go."

They climbed back up on Aslan's back and continued their journey. On leaving the hill, the mood lightened considerably and Aslan ran faster and faster until the wind almost burned against their faces. Annie laughed a laugh of deep joy at the sensation. She could feel Lucy and the Lion laughing as well. Soon they neared a majestic coastline. On a hill overlooking a beautiful natural harbor, Annie stopped them again.

"I think this is another nexus point, but the feelings are reversed. It feels warm and light, yet there is a small darkness here as well."

"Excellent, young one. You learn quickly. Let us stay here a while and I will tutor you further on the Deep Magic. For as I and my father have been to other worlds, you shall be to this one."

"You won't be coming back here?"

"No Magic, not often. While I am, and always will be, here for you." He raised a paw and gently touched her chest. "This world is your creation, and as such it falls to you to raise, nurture and guide it."

"Oh." Again, Annie felt the weight of responsibility for what she had begun with a simple song to cheer herself up.

They spent the rest of that day exploring what the Deep Magic meant, ways of using it, proper uses for it, improper uses of it and the importance of maintaining the balance of all things. As night fell, the local people came and set up a camp for the three of them. As they left, Annie heard them talking about constructing a great castle on the spot so honored by Annie's presence.

_3_

Annie, Lucy, and Aslan had settled comfortably around the campfire in front of the grand tent the villagers had pitched. Aslan had spoken more about the Deep Magic, but mostly they had just reveled in each other's company. As the moon rose to full height above the land Aslan stood facing west.

"Annie. Kneel facing me. Lucy, stand as witness."

Annie moved so she was kneeling before Aslan.

"Lucy and her companions had to wait for me to call them out of your world into Narnia." Aslan exhaled on her forehead and Annie felt a shiver run down her spine. "Annette Lucille Temple, Daughter of Jason Allen Temple, Daughter of Margaret Annette Temple, as the creator of this world, that power now resides in you. At need you may call others into this world to help guide it's events. You will also always know when this world needs you and at a thought you will be able to return to it. With great power comes great responsibility. Do you understand and accept the charge upon you?

Annie wept. She wept at the weight of her responsibility. She wept at the love she felt from the Great Lion in front of her. She wept at the beauty of her, HER world! "I accept this charge with all the love in my heart!" She whispered. "And I have chosen a name for this land."

"Yes Dear?"

Annie stood, glanced at Lucy standing beside her in the firelight and looked Aslan in the eyes.

"Mimasu."


	6. A Joyful Return

**A Joyful Return**

_1_

Annie found herself standing in what she now knew was the Throne Room of Mimasu's house. Her back was to the tapestry of the two kings. The first thing she noticed was that the stained glass windows were dark. "Time passes differently in every world." She whispered to herself.

She then noticed that the room had been lit with candles, both in wall sconces and standing on the tables. In the flickering light she realized that Mimasu was sitting asleep on the Throne. The tracks of dried tears traced down her face. In her hand she held the smallest of the crowns from the table under the sword and shield.

Annie walked over to the Throne and touched Mima...Susan on the shoulder. She stirred and began to awaken. Annie stepped down to the lower floor and knelt in front of the Throne. When Susan awakened enough to recognize her, Annie bowed deeply.

"Queen Susan the Gentle." she began the speech Aslan had had her rehearse for this moment. "Beloved friend of Narnia, I bear you greetings from Aslan. He thanks you for providing this place of memory where the joys of your childhood continue to live."

Susan's eyes flashed with the beginnings of anger, this impertinent child had discovered her secret room, disappeared to who knows where for an entire day and was now taunting her with her deepest secret. Then another voice spoke.

"Susan, how can you be angry with Magic. She is a true Pevensie, just like you and me."

Shock and confusion came over Susan's face.

"Lucy!" Annie squealed. "But... I thought you weren't allowed to come?"

"I begged and begged Aslan until he finally agreed to let me come visit this world for a time."

"L...L...Lucy?"

"Yes, Dear Sister?"

"Are you a ghost?"

"For this summer, I am as real as you and Magic here."

Susan and Lucy swept into an intense embrace. In the midst of the dancing and laughing and tears, Annie found herself somehow in the middle of the hug.

"Lucy, I distinctly remember you being much older than nine."

"Aslan's fault." Lucy grinned, one didn't get to use that term often. "Annie here got lost between worlds so he sent Edmund and I to find her. It was less intimidating for us to look for her as children. You see, he kept her identity and relationship a secret from us."

"You didn't tell me Edmund was there! I would have loved to meet him!"

"When we found you, he went to fetch Aslan. He didn't come back with him, so I didn't think about it until now."

"Lucy, I sense a story here between you two. Annie's been gone from this world for most of a day, we once spent fifteen years in Narnia during the blink of an eye. How long were you there?"

Annie looked at Lucy and thought hard. "I'm not really sure. Months?"

"At least three." Lucy added.

"Not counting time in the nothing."

"Of course there is no time in the nothing. You could have been there for the equivalent of years."

"Hold on you two. Let's start at the beginning."

"Can we do that in the Kitchen? I'm quite hungry." Annie chimed.

_2_

The three of them sat on stools around the same kitchen counter Annie had breakfasted at ages ago, that morning. Susan fixed sandwiches, even after 60 years, she still remembered Lucy's favorite. The two girls wolfed down the sandwiches and punch. Between bites, Annie shared her story with Susan. Lucy, wearing the crown that Susan had been holding, filled in some gaps and spoke of how she and Edmund had been tasked to find Annie.

"Wait, you sang this world into being?"

"Uh huh!" Annie replied around a mouthful of peanut butter and jam.

"Aslan said _'You have sung both love and loneliness. There are much worse traits on which to anchor a world'_" Lucy added. "Only Aslan and his father have done this before. I've watched Aslan do it, and I've tried, at his urging, but only Magic here has done it."

"I didn't mean to do it. I was lonely and sad so I sang one of the songs Daddy always uses to cheer me up."

They continued the story while Susan served the girls hot chocolate and fixed herself a coffee. Susan realized it was close to dawn. They'd been talking all night and the two younger girls were still going strong. "Let's go up to the tower."

From the tower, they could see stars all around the sky. As if mirroring the stars, fireflies blinked all around. A faint lightening began to the east. As the sun came up, Annie spoke of the beauty of the first day in her new world, all the creatures and plants springing from the ground and the waters.

Annie stood and looked out over the valley. She spoke of the charge that Aslan had placed upon her and how she felt the weight of that responsibility come to rest upon her.

Susan looked at her sister. Taking the crown from Lucy's head, she turned to Annie. "Beloved granddaughter. Kneel"

Annie knelt before her great grandmother. Recognizing what Susan was about to do, Lucy stood on Annie's left with her right hand resting on Annie's shoulder. Susan stood before her with the rising sun at her back, glories rippling all around her, and for a moment, she saw not her Great-grandmother in her dressing gown and robe, but a beautiful young queen in a flowing gown of the finest silks and satins. Lucy's hand tensed on Annie's shoulder, she saw it too.

"Annette Lucille Temple, most favored child, friend of Aslan. I proclaim you honored Princess, and Friend of Narnia. Queen Lucy the Valiant has already committed herself to the service of your new land. Now I, Queen Susan the Gentle, commit the power and resources of the realm to your service. At your call, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, and myself will ride with you wherever you may lead." Susan placed the crown upon her head.

They returned to their seats. The simple ceremony had made Annie feel much better. The new world was still her responsibility, but in her heart she new she now had mentors and friends for the challenge.

_3_

"So what did you end up naming your new world?"

"I chose a name that to me meant honor and wisdom, peace and beauty, strength and grace, and most of all it meant love. Mimasu, I named it for you." Crying tears of love, Annie swept into Susan's open arms.

"Magic, promise me that one day I may see this wondrous land of yours."

"You have my word, Your Majesty."

"And I think its time we dropped the honorifics, I'm still your Mimasu. Though, as long as Lucy's here, if you wish to call me Susan. Oh, I haven't been called that since your father pegged me with Mimasu when he was a little boy. How I have missed it." She touched her breast. "Here, where I have remained young."

"Oh, I almost forgot, I'll be right back." Annie ran back down to the Throne Room to grab her pack. When she got back Lucy and Susan were talking about their brothers and some adventure they'd had on their first trip to Narnia.

"I brought back pictures!"

Susan oo'd and ah'd over the pictures Annie had taken. Lucy helped describe the people and places. When she got to the end, Annie noticed a new folder on the screen labeled 'Susan'. When she opened it, there was an icon of a Lion's head. "Mima... Susan, I think this one is for you."

Susan moused over to the icon and clicked it open. The screen blanked as for a movie. A soft rumbling purr came from the speakers, followed by Aslan's face on the screen. "Susan, by now you have learned the story of young Annie. I commend you on your skills, you have raised a fine, strong and loving family. Your great granddaughter is very special. I have taught her much relating to the Deep Magic in her time here with me. Share with her the wisdom you learned and exercised from the throne in Narnia that she may use her powers properly.

"While her adventures are just beginning, do not think that yours are over. You have cared well for the valley I lead you to and though the beasts of your world cannot make themselves heard by you, they tell me their thanks to pass on to you. The time will soon come when we are reunited. Fear not Daughter of Eve, as you have not forgotten Narnia, neither have the Narnian's forgotten you."

_4_

Having stayed up all night, the three of them grabbed a midday nap. Susan woke the two girls around mid-afternoon with the suggestion that they go for a ride. They saddled up and rode down to the valley floor.

"I was right." Lucy said. "This is one of the enchanted places in this world."

They picnicked in a small clearing while listening to the laughter of the nearby stream.

"This is the first place I visited in this valley." Susan said. "I kept expecting to see fauns and dryads dancing when I would turn around. Then I looked up at the ridge and I could see Cair Paravel sitting there. When the house was finished, I rode down here and cried because Peter, Edmund, and most of all you Lucy weren't here to see this place. Now, thanks to Annie, who is truly Magic, I get to share it with you at long last."

Lucy walked over to Susan and placed her hand on Susan's breast. "We were right here the whole time. Eventually, we will all share in that moment."

The shadows in the valley began to lengthen. "We'd better be getting back. Magic, by Aslan's order, I have something very special to share with you now."


	7. Queen Susan's Library

**Queen Susan's Library**

_1_

When they had cooled and groomed the horses Susan led them back to the Throne Room. This time she went to the chest and opened it, pulling out a stack of first editions of the Chronicles of Narnia and several other volumes as well.

"Somehow, I still find it hard believe you fell through this into your new world."

"It was a lot bigger yesterday morning."

"Come, let us put these in the library where they belong." Lucy and Annie split the stack and followed Susan downstairs.

They set the books on the table beside the stack of books Susan had laid out for Annie a lifetime and thirty-six hours before.

"Well Magic, your reading list just became much more interesting, I should say. In addition to the Chronicles of Narnia with which I know you are familiar, these are the reconstructed diaries from my time as Queen Susan in Cair Paravel. Aslan charged me to share with you the wisdom and knowledge with which we ruled Narnia. This will be the best starting point. Lucy, I'm sure you'll help her to place these events in their proper context."

"Oh, this will be so exciting." Lucy exclaimed.

All Annie saw was a stack of reading. Reading for fun was one thing, but to have to read to learn something always, always turned out to be boring, and she said so.

"Don't you worry about being stuck inside with books all summer, Magic." Susan said. "Your archery lessons just took on a new importance. I also happen to know that Lucy was pretty good with a sword, and since she's more of a match for your size, you'll be training on sword and staff with her."

"Besides, In Narnia, we outlawed boring schooling. Do you think we would stick you with what we wouldn't tolerate?" Lucy added.

_2_

Susan and Lucy had gone up to the second floor to set up a proper room for Annie's blade training. She carefully picked up the top book. It was leather bound, in gilt lettering on the cover it read _The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis_. "Mom read me this several years ago." Annie said quietly. She carefully opened the cover, written inside was a note.

_Dear Sue,_

_I am deeply honored by the trust your family has shown in me. When Prof. K. approached me to share this tale with the world I was taken aback. That none of you would wish any credit in its creation, merely the knowledge of it dissemination is inspiring.__ Against your wishes, I have set up a blind trust on you and your siblings behalf. Perhaps in the future an appropriate use can be determined by you for this fund. It is there for your need._

_Sincerely,_

_Jack_

Annie read the note, wondering who Jack might be. She picked up the second book _Prince Caspian_ and discovered it too had a note in it.

_Dear Sue,_

_Again, I am honored by the participation of your family members in this project. The interviews have been most informative. I do however wish that you would have chosen to participate in this latest round more fully. I believe that it might have been p__ossible to more fully capture both you and your brother's sense of loss with further sessions._

_Sincerely,_

_Jack_

She wondered if maybe Jack was Mr. Lewis' secretary, he apparently had a hand in the writing of the books. Picking up _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_, as she expected she again found a note in the cover. In this case there were blotches on the page and it was clear that the ink had run some.

_My Dearest Sue,_

_I have only just heard this very evening. My condolences on your most tragic loss. I know that in the last year or so, you and your siblings have had a strong difference of opinion. Know, from one who has been blessed with the opportunity to know you a__ll, that they still love you with all their being. I henceforth commit myself to putting to print every story they and you have shared with me. I beg of you to contact me that we may toast our absent friends._

_Friendship Always,_

_Jack_

Inside was a folded yellow newspaper clipping.

**Station Wreck Claims 100 Lives**

Royal railway officials are investigating the derailment of a commuter train yesterday as it approached a downtown station. All but one of the passengers on the first two of the coaches, and a number of patrons in the station were killed when, according to witness statements, the 10:05 apparently rounded the final bend too fast and tipped off the rails, swept the platform and slammed into the station building proper.

Among the known fatalities are Retired Professor D. Kirke, formerly an Oxford Don and his housekeeper Polly Mackready. Also, almost the entire Pevensie family of Finchley, some of whom were waiting at the station for the train's arrival. They are survived by a single daughter, Susan who was not present at the scene of the accident. Officials say additional victim names will be released upon notification of kin. More details will be reported as they come available.

Annie remembered how she and her mother had cried after realizing that poor Susan had been left all alone in the world. Knowing that the Susan she had cried for was actually her great-grandmother brought back that sadness. Not wanting to add more splotches to the book than those Susan had already made, Annie closed the book and pulled out more of her tissues, blowing her nose and dabbing her eyes until she no longer feared dripping on the books.

Each of the remaining titles also contained a brief note from Jack. In the front of _"The Last Battle" _she found her answer to who Jack was, and an answer to the question she had asked Lucy ages ago.

_My Dearest Susan Temple,_

_Felicitations on your Marriage. I had feared never to see you smile like that again. _

_This is the last of the Narnia Chronicles. I have discovered that I too have a connection to this enchanted land. Since I was a boy I have had glimpses of this magical place, and yet didn't recognize it until your wonderful family came into my home and __shared their amazing stories._

_I had thought I was finished after the last, but one night, I had this dream in which the Great Lion pulled me aside and whispered to me the word 'listen' then he breathed on my forehead. When I awoke, I 'knew' what had transpired for your family, and th__is story is but a pale reflection of that knowledge._

_I have transferred full control of the Trust into your hands. Your wisdom and grace will find the most appropriate usage for it._

_You Most Humble Subject_

_C.S. 'Jack' Lewis_

_3_

"After I received the copy of _Dawn Treader, _I didn't even open any of the packages Mr. Lewis sent me." Annie started, she hadn't heard Susan return. "They remained unopened until November of 1963. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard Kennedy was shot, but for me, that will always be the day I rediscovered my connection to Narnia.

"Sandwiched between the continuous coverage all the media were doing on the Kennedy assassination, one of the newscasters, after mentioning the British Government's sending of condolences, said _'And in other news out of Britain, famed author and beloved creator of the Narnia series, C.S. Lewis has also died this day.' _My shock at events here turned to deep sadness, for my last connection to Narnia, and also to my family, had passed. Distancing myself from Narnia had torn my family apart. The accident had separated us from healing the rift. And now, my last connection was gone.

"Over the next week, I read all of the adventures that we had shared with Jack. The pain I felt on reading of Peter, Edmund, and Lucy's sense of loss when they said I was no longer a friend of Narnia." Susan broke down crying.

Lucy entered the room, coming up behind her. "Susan... Susan, we knew you had grown attached to this world, and our fondest hopes have been proven true in that you rediscovered Narnia and have never forgotten it since. Besides, had you not stayed, Annie here would never have existed, and I now believe that she is the reason Aslan guided you away from us for a time."

"Me, the reason..." Annie felt herself losing the thread of the conversation.

"Annie," Lucy began, "As children, my siblings and I were the mythology of Narnia. To them, we were as the Olympian gods were to the Greeks, yet Aslan, and his father, The Emperor Beyond the Sea, were the true Divinities.

"Since that night by the stone table, I have come to believe that, as the nurture and spread of intelligence is the charge of humanity, the nurture and spread of Divinity is the charge of Aslan, his Father, and now you Annie. Worlds are not, and should not be created haphazardly, Aslan and The Emperor Beyond the Sea create worlds for the purpose of nurturing Divinity, but Divinity cannot spring from any one world alone.

"Annie is a product of the combination of Narnia and this world that resulted from the time you spent there Susan. Aslan wanted you to become attached to this world so that Divinity could spread."

"Will I be able to tap the Deep Magic of this world?" Annie asked.

"Eventually, even inevitably, but it is most likely for the best if you only use it to help keep track of the worlds for which you are responsible. This world is under the guidance and protection of its creator, as Mimasu is under yours.

"I have come to sense that with all the many, many worlds that they now watch over, they have long held hope of finding that Divinity within us, so that we may help them with these worlds. Annie, you are the first to demonstrate that Spark. And so we begin a grand, new adventure, as creators and mentors alongside them. But first, you must acquire the knowledge that will allow you to exercise wisdom with this new power."


	8. Of Malls and Movies

**Of Malls and Movies**

_1_

The next morning Lucy bounced Annie out of bed. "Yesterday was too serious! You told me about Malls. Let's get Susan to take us to one today!"

"I don't know. She's kinda set on me reading all her diaries."

"Come on! Besides, don't you think I should have some clothes of my own, instead of living out of your trunk?"

Annie noticed that Lucy was wearing her green top with denim skirt, knee socks and Keds. Not exactly a 21st century pairing, especially the knee socks.

At breakfast, it took some convincing, but Susan finally agreed to take Lucy and Annie to the nearest Mall. "But we're not staying all day. Annie, you and Lucy need to spend at least a couple of hours with the diaries today. And we have more archery lessons this afternoon. Come to think of it, you will both need workout clothes for your training."

Lucy was in awe of not only the number of shops but the size of the building they were in. "It goes on forever."

"Not quite." Annie grinned, having now had some experience with the real concept of forever. Lucy and Annie crowd danced from window to window looking in at the displays. They found a shop that specialized in children's clothes and Susan purchased several complete outfits for Lucy.

Carrying their packages out of the shop Susan spotted something she had been looking for. "Ah, just the thing." They entered the sporting good store across the way. Lucy stared at all the strange equipment. She recognized the black and white checked footballs, but wasn't sure why the Rugby balls were labeled as footballs too. Susan called the girls over and the young lady behind the counter took a few basic measurements and handed down four packages. "Karate Gi's, should be just the thing for your 'workouts'." They'd agreed not to mention the training while at the mall.

By this point it was close to lunch time. "Chinese!" Annie squealed. When Susan listed out their options in the Mall.

"More fortune cookies?"

"Yep!" Annie switched to a pout. "But they probably won't give us any extra."

Being a buffet, Lucy tried everything that Annie had. She loved the egg rolls, but wasn't too sure about the many dishes coated in the spicy sauces.

None of their fortune cookies opened up to anything special. "See what I meant about how vague they usually are?" Annie said to Lucy.

_2_

When they came out after lunch, the first thing Annie noticed was the video store across the way. She nudged Lucy hard in the ribs and pointed at the poster in the window. "Now Available, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" Lucy read aloud.

"Mimasu, do you have that at home?" Annie asked.

"No dear, Not yet." It was clear from her voice she had been avoiding it.

"Can we watch it?" Lucy asked. "Where is the theater?"

Annie laughed. "Its not a theater, silly. You buy or rent the movie and take it home to watch there!"

The look of pleading in Lucy's eyes finally won Susan over. "Oh, all right, I never could win when you did that." Susan purchased a copy of the movie.

When they got back to the house, the girls wanted to watch it immediately, but Susan put her foot down. "Tomorrow Night! Tonight you _both_ read the book together! But first," looking straight at Annie, "we have an appointment outside with some targets."

After an hour of target practice, Annie's aim was improving. On her last go-round, none of her arrows missed the target entirely. "You're definitely improving, Magic. Go quick and change into your new gi, I have a feeling Lucy is already waiting for you upstairs."

Lucy started her on blocking motions with the blade, or in this case, a sawn off broom handle. She'd picked up a few bruises, but she'd begun to get the hang of blocking. After two hours of physical exertions, Annie was tired, sore and very ready for a shower.

The girls got cleaned up and met in the library. They grabbed the book and snuggled together in one of the chairs, taking turns reading the story out loud to each other. At time's, Susan sat across from them, nodding as they read, or occasionally, reviewing her diaries, and even adding commentary. Lucy too added little side details that sent little shivers up Annie's spine. This wasn't just a story, Susan and Lucy had lived it! The subtle smell of Beaverdam. The blistering chill of the white witch's winter. The subtle flavor of the foods. Details that books just couldn't convey were hers for the asking. And, of course, Annie had met Aslan himself, and understood just how deeply one was effected in his presence.

Susan spoke up after they finished the story. "I haven't told you this, but I'm one of the investors in the movie. I've maintained contact with the estate, and they have acted as my intermediaries.

While I haven't seen the movie, I was kept informed about it. Some things that didn't make it into the book found new life on film, and as with any story, some things were changed to make the movie better. Now off to bed you two... and Lucy, don't go leading Magic here off through any wardrobes, okay?"

The girls giggled. "Good night Susan!" And they bounced off to bed.

Meanwhile Susan sat staring at the fire she had lit earlier in the evening, watching it burn down to embers. "Am I ready to watch this?" When the fire had gone out, she too went to bed.

_3_

All through the day, Lucy and Annie were bouncing back and forth between Annie's studies, and talking about the movie, which Annie had seen the previous winter. "Oh, the music... it's awesome!" or "Was the bombing really as scary as the movie shows? I mean, Mr. Lewis left it out of the book but for a couple of lines." If she hadn't answered every question put to her about what she was reading, spot-on, Susan would have thought she wasn't taking the study seriously.

They were falling into a routine with the physical training, and Annie was improving in both archery and swordsmanship. That evening, the three of them made up a big bucket of popcorn and started the DVD. Susan didn't use her DVD player often, and Annie finally had to take over the remote, skip by all the ads, and start the movie properly. She set the sound at something that approximated theater levels, sipped her punch, and grabbed a big handful of popcorn before settling back on the couch.

Lucy was curled up next to her, and when the bombing began, Annie felt a genuine shiver of fear run through her. "You are so lucky to live in a world where that doesn't happen anymore."

"Someday, I'll tell you about nine-eleven, which happened when I was four," Lucy looked up curious, "but not now." Annie whispered.

Susan looked over and nodded. "Those first nights were the worst, we became numb to it before they finally arranged the evacuations."

"It's not the same, and yet somehow, the house feels right." Lucy said to Susan. Susan, meanwhile, was crying silently, reliving the real emotions again in her mind.

"I'm glad to see the handshake sequence made it into the movie. I really thought it should have been in the book, but we left that up to Mr. Lewis." Lucy whispered to Annie, tears were glistening in her eyes as well at the memory of that first meeting with Mr. Tumnus. "You're right, she doesn't look much like me, but she has the part perfect."

"Oh, even in the grips of that evil winter, Narnia was so beautiful." Susan said.

They settled in and did very little more talking through the rest of the movie, instead letting the sights and sounds wash over and through them. After the movie was over, Susan and Lucy spent hours talking about what had really happened. Annie settled back and absorbed it all while practicing reaching her senses out to monitor Mimasu.

_4_

As the summer passed. Annie's routine never faltered. (Except for the weekend when the three of them had gone down to the capital for Susan to participate in the Senior Games, where she placed first in the Archery contest, again.) Breakfast, diary studies, Archery, sword or staff training, and evening discussions of what she'd learned that day. Interspersed were horseback rides and mounted training with both the bow and sword. As the summer neared it's end, Annie was looking at herself in the mirror. She had developed well defined arm muscles from her archery and swordsmanship. She'd also grown three inches. She could now sink Arrows as deeply and accurately as Susan at the same ranges. She'd bested Lucy, two out of three in each type of sword for the last week. She could even wield the big two-handed sword Susan had given her to try. She loved the quarter staff and it's many uses.

She now knew stories of Narnia, by heart, that no one else in the world had ever heard. Susan, Lucy and herself would talk for hours about the finer points of decisions that one or the other of the Kings or Queen's had made. Tearing the decisions down to their most basic elements and rebuilding them. Were they right or wrong. What effect did the decision have. Was this or that battle a result of a decision made years before. Should Susan have been _that _friendly toward Rabadash to begin with. (Lucy slipped that one in one night unexpectedly and Susan almost flipped. It was apparently an _old_ argument between them.)

She had learned to keep a constant background hum of the Deep Magic running to monitor Mimasu, and occasionally smiled unexpectedly at the information she gleaned from the connection. Many many years had passed in Mimasu, and things seemed to be developing well.

Mom and Daddy were due back tomorrow, and Annie had not yet decided how much she should tell them. So far as Susan and Annie new, her daddy had never known about Susan's connection to Narnia, and mom thought they were stories. Should she tell them about Mimasu? What about Lucy?

"They're going to notice how my body has changed." She said to Lucy later while discussing what to tell them.

"We avoided telling others until the Professor drug it out of us. On the other hand, I think they deserve to know." Lucy replied.

That night, Lucy noticed Annie tossing and turning in her sleep. Just when Lucy was about to try and wake her, she settled down, and while her sleep wasn't exactly peaceful, it no longer appeared violent.


	9. Darkness In Mimasu

**Darkness in Mimasu**

_1_

"Aureilia, my love, where are you?" Tirbolan called. The burned out shell of what had been his home stood in front of him. "AUREILIA!" But there was no answer. The fire had spread from a fallen candle and consumed all that it came in contact with. He finally found her in the upstairs bedroom. As with most victims of fire, she was barely scorched, the noxious smoke had stolen her away long before the few flames had reached her.

Tirbolan wept. In his sorrow, he had a vision. As the madness of the vision stole through him he swore to learn the secrets of the Deep Magic so that he might restore his beloved Aureilia.

Time passed and he traveled from one end of Mimasu to the other, learning from those willing to teach, and taking the knowledge from those who would not. The madness of his loneliness drove him further and further down the path.

He was in the far north when he was confronted by the elders of a village. Forewarned of his mad quest, they stood before him and denied him passage. On being denied, Tirbolan's last vestige of humanity severed. He reached into the Deep Magic and twisted the minds of those around him. Darkness came over the village.

_2_

Years had passed and Tirbolan no longer sought the knowledge to restore his lost love. The loneliness had now consumed that part of him as well. Now his quest was to become ever more powerful. He no longer had to twist minds to create his followers, for the corrupt and the envious are always drawn to power that can provide for their thirsts.

His armies spread out over Mimasu, staking out the most fertile lands for themselves. Taking what they wished, and leaving little, if anything for those unlucky enough to survive their arrival. If an area resisted too effectively, Tirbolan would come, and with a simple twist, add to his minions. Only the strongest and most self-assured could hold onto themselves against his evil magics.

He established himself by a tall hill from which he could draw great quantities of the Deep Magic. Upon the crest of the hill he had a great circle of stones raised like the jagged teeth of a long dead giant. At the center he erected a circular device to which could be attached sacrifices to his ongoing experiments in control of the Deepest of the Deep Magic.

_3_

Of all the lands of Mimasu, only King Aurailic and those lords beholden to him now stood before Tirbolan. Unfortunately, though they were strong in spirit and could not be twisted to his service, they were few in number, and their numbers were dwindling with each skirmish. The last free peoples of Mimasu cried to the legendary Child from the Dawn of the World for salvation.

_4_

Annie didn't want to wake up. She'd tossed and turned much of the night and as a result was not very well rested. Bleary-eyed, she joined Susan and Lucy for breakfast.

Susan was describing Jason and Maggie to Lucy. It was weird to hear her parents described from that vantage point. She enjoyed the story about their involvement in medieval re-creations. Susan had taken Jason to a Renaissance Faire where she was competing in an archery competition, and he'd become hooked. According to Susan, he'd practiced endlessly with both broadsword and lance until he was good enough to be hired by and tour with a traveling company. He had met Maggie while performing when they'd been paired for a 'husband/wife quarrel' involving swords and quarterstaves.

The story was getting really interesting when a sudden sharp pain started at her toes and fingertips and then raced through every nerve in Annie's body. Her gasp and collapse froze everything.

Lucy dropped to her side. "Annie! What's wrong?"

"Mimasu!"

Susan leaned in. "I'm here Annie."

"No, Mimasu..." She was panting for breath over the pain. "Darkness, danger, evil in Mimasu."

"Annie! Look at me!" Lucy grabbed her shoulders and shook. "The Deep Magic is showing you this, but it doesn't control you, you control it! Concentrate. You can't help Mimasu if you are incapacitated by the warning!"

Slowly, Annie overcame the pain. "I have to get back there." But her mind was still too muddled to concentrate properly for the shift.

"No, my dear, WE have to get there." Susan said.

"What about Annie's parents? They're due any moment, and unlike Narnia, time is much closer between these two worlds."

"If they're here before we go, we'll tell them. If not, I'll leave a message with Bernice. One thing I know for certain though. For the first time since you stumbled through that wardrobe, we have warning and time to prepare. Annie get Bernice to help you pack up all the travel rations in the kitchen then bring them to the Throne Room. Lucy, weapons and armor. I'll fetch my diaries and all of the notes we've made this summer. Fifteen minutes, no more, now hop it!"

_5_

Annie brought in the sack of trail foods just as Lucy brought in her last armload of swords. "We can't carry all of that."

"We don't have to carry it, if you can shift it, we'll find others to carry and use it."

Susan bustled in with her own pack full of diaries and notebooks. "Everyone ready?"

"Not yet." Annie reached out and one of the tables skittered across the floor to her. Susan looked up mildly surprised. "First, we need to know where we are going." The crowns on the table unwove themselves, melted and flowed around the table forming a map of Mimasu. By the colors, it was obvious that very little of Mimasu was still outside of the darkness' control.

"The second nexus?" Lucy said.

"They were going to build a castle there. It still appears to hold."

"Where should we drop in?" Susan asked.

Annie waved a hand over the table and the scale zoomed down to the level of the lands around the Castle. "There, that glade about halfway to the ocean. It's isolated, but close enough to reach the Castle quickly."

"Magic?... Mimasu?" came from downstairs

"Second Floor Daddy!" Annie responded automatically

"Do we have time to explain things to them?" Lucy asked.

"We'll have to make them understand quickly. But I have this strange feeling, like they're supposed to come."


	10. Hope On The Wind

**Hope on the Wind**

_1_

Jason and Maggie came into what appeared to be a throne room to find their daughter, a strange girl and Mimasu huddled over a map etched in a table.

"Show me the battlefront." The girl asked

Jason blinked in surprise. Annie had merely waved her hand across the map and the lines had redrawn themselves. She looked up and caught his eye. "Daddy, we don't have much time, and there is just way too much to explain right now. It's very important that you not doubt anything I'm about to say." He nodded, dumbstruck as Maggie grabbed his arm.

"Mom, Dad, Narnia WAS real. Mimasu is Queen Susan." Maggie's grip tightened on his arm. "This is her sister Lucy." Lucy turned and nodded, never losing the serious expression she wore from studying the map. "I got lost between worlds and then I accidentally created one, now that world is in deep trouble, and it is my responsibility to guide it out. We," and her arms encompassed Lucy and Susan, "are going there VERY shortly. If you wish to go, I'll have more time to explain once we are there. If not, I will explain when we get back."

"If we get back." Lucy added. She'd just watched one of the defending battle lines collapse on the map. "Every moment in this world is hours in the other Annie. You're running out of time."

"If? Swords?" Jason managed to mumble. His little girl was charging off into danger involving swords.

"And Quarterstaves?" Maggie added staring at the pile of weapons.

"It is still a young world." Annie answered

"Young lady," He shook his head. Wrong approach. "Annie, are you sure _you_ have to go?"

"I'm responsible. Like when I broke the china server. Whatever happens, I share the fate of that world, I can't run or hide from this. I wish we had time here to explain more, but we don't."

"I'm your father, If I can't stop you, and I can't talk you out of going, then there's no way I'm going to wait here and wonder what became of my little girl." He reached out and grabbed the big two-handed sword and after a knowing look, passed the quarterstaff over to Maggie.

"There's one more thing I have to do!" Annie chimed.

"Hurry! They're wavering." From Lucy.

Annie ran to the other end of the hall, sweeping up the bow and quiver of arrows, the horn, dagger and flask, and the sword and shield. She closed her eyes. A bright glow spread from her to each of the items and they subtly changed. She handed the bow, quiver and horn to Susan.

"It can't be! These were lost with Narnia."

"But they are the real thing." Lucy said, taking her flask with the healing cordial and the small dagger.

"Jason, It would be a great honor if you would carry High King Peter's sword and shield." Susan said, handing them to him. He took them from her, somewhat dumbfounded.

_2_

"Grab what you can carry and hold hands!" Annie closed her eyes and concentrated on the glade beyond the castle. A breeze entered the room and spun around them. Jason blinked and when his eyes opened, he was standing in a small clearing amongst a copse of trees.

"Susan, please sound your horn."

"Is it safe?"

Annie glanced at the table that had transferred with them. The map had stopped shifting now that they were moving in time with Mimasu. "Yes, for the moment."

Susan put the horn to her lips and blew. As it sounded, Jason noticed that she was getting younger, she de-aged past his earliest memories of her, becoming once again the young vibrant Queen she had once been in Narnia.

"Annie, it's been fun being nine again, but I think for this, it would better serve you for me to be older." Jason blinked again, and instead of the near twin to his daughter, there stood a striking young lady with long golden hair wearing flowing royal robes. Lucy leaned into the pile and selected armor and a broadsword for herself. "Maggie, Susan says you have some experience with armor, would you assist me?"

As the horn's cry faded into nothing, there was a commotion at the edge of the clearing as two young men charged out of the woods.

"Susan!" The eldest cried. "I never ever expected to hear that sound again!"

"Peter! Edmund!" She looked back at Annie. "How's our time?"

"Now that we're here and moving apace, we have a little."

Susan threw herself into a huge round of hugs with her siblings. She then made introductions around the circle. When she introduced Peter to Jason, Jason handed over the Sword and Shield. "I've been told that these belong to you."

Annie touched his elbow and smiled.

As each of the Narnian Royals was introduced to Annie, they knelt before her and paid homage. Peter spoke for the group. "Aslan, told us of your gift, Magic. We are all honored to meet you and doubly honored to call you kin."

As they all began suiting up in the armor and weaponry Susan had provided, Lucy, who was already finished, proceeded to fill everyone in on what had transpired since she and Edmund had gone searching for the lost child. As she was finishing a party of horses galloped into the clearing.

_3_

"A horn, we heard a horn." One of the horses said.

"We ride to battle?" another tossed in.

Peter stood. Looking around the group he held each persons eyes for a moment. "My Kin, there is much about this world that is similar to our Narnia. Queen Susan has pledged the realm to Annie's assistance. Annie rides to the defence of her world as we and Aslan rode for Narnia. I ride with Annie! Do you ride with me?"

With their assembled agreement, Peter turned and knelt before Annie once again.

"Annie, Aslan also sends a gift." Peter reached inside his jerkin and produced a brilliant scarlet flag on which was the blinding white image of a young girl. Edmund asked one of the tree's for a staff which was willingly donated by the resident dryad. As the wind unfurled the banner for the first time, the image of the girl appeared on their armor and even on Peter's shield, although the scarlet image of the Lion remained there in outline.

Annie walked over to her parents. While she carried a quiver and bow, unstrung on her back, she had not donned any armor. Instead, she wore a simple white knee length dress, white knee socks with black shoes, her blond hair had been pulled back into a pony tail tied with a white ribbon. But for the quiver on her back, and the expression on her face, she looked like an innocent little girl.

"Everything Lucy said, it's all true?" Her mother asked.

"And more, I promise I'll explain it all once we've reached the castle and assessed the situation. But I wanted ask if you and Dad are okay?"

"It's a shock, Magic. I'm still not sure if this is a dream or real." Jason answered. Jason was taken aback by how mature Annie now seemed. She still looked nine, but she carried herself with the stoic confidence of a warrior.

"Shall I pinch you nephew?" Lucy had walked up behind Jason and Maggie.

"That won't be necessary, Lu." The stoic exterior cracked and Annie smiled. Jason felt better realizing that his little girl was still within this child-warrior-god.

"Susan was telling us about the Renaissance Faires this morning when Annie was called. Remember, this is for real, all of our lives and especially Annie's could depend on the skills we each possess. Don't swing to miss, the other side won't. Edmund and I have spoken, and if you wish to spar when we arrive at the Castle, we are at your service."

They loaded their gear and mounted the Horses.

"I haven't felt this alive since we hunted the white stag!" Susan exclaimed. She now wore leather armor with her bow strung and hung with her quiver across her back and the horn draped on her right hip.

Peter handed the banner to Jason who was riding on Annie's right. Jason felt something electric in his spine as he grasped the staff and solemnly clasped Peter's hand. "Nephew, if it is within our power to protect your Daughter and save her world, it shall be so. My life for Annie and Aslan!"

Then, as Peter took up position on her left, Annie lead the way to the Castle, her parents and the Kings and Queens of Narnia riding as escort.


	11. Counsels Of Courage

**Counsels of Courage**

_1_

As they approached the castle gates, wary eyes watched them from the walls.

"Susan, could you announce us please."

Susan blew a piercing, yet somehow joyful note on her horn.

"Dad, stay by my side." She urged her mount forward several paces in front of the rest of the party.

Jason followed her, recognizing the greeting and parley ritual from his time with the touring company.

A voice cried out "Halt! What noble party is this that arrives on my gates and sends a child forward as its voice!"

As they came to a stop, a breeze came around the castle and stood the banner straight out from the staff. Jason reset his grip, then almost dropped it as he looked over at his daughter. She was literally glowing as she stood in the stirrups and addressed those above the gate. "Sovereign of the keep! I am Annie! My party and I ride to your cause. Time is short and we must confer! May we enter!" She never yelled, but her voice carried to every ear within sight and echoed back off the walls.

Jason distinctly heard exclamations from behind the walls.

"It's her...it's her!"

"The glorious Child has returned!"

"Praise the Child, our hope is restored!"

The voice above the gate was not yet convinced. "Tirbolan's trickery has subsumed many. How know I that you are indeed The Child?"

"By what signs are you to know me?"

"The Innocent shall ride in the company of a Lion. I see no Lion!"

"Peter, Bring forward your shield." Annie called over her shoulder. "Sovereign! The Great Lion Aslan is both my Mentor and Guide, but he is not my constant companion! In his stead, I have accepted the service of High King Peter of Narnia! Noble warrior, wise leader and Friend of Aslan!"

Peter held his shield so the light reflected the superimposed images of the Lion and the Child.

Just when Jason feared that there would be no reply, the great gate cracked and swung open. The Sovereign of the Castle, King Aurailic led his nobles out and bowed before Annie's party. "Welcome Annie! Welcome friends of Mimasu!" A great cheer went up within the castle as Annie's party followed the King through the gates.

_2_

Annie, Peter and Edmund went off with Aurailic and his generals to become familiar with the situation. The rest of the party were led to guest lodging adjoining the castle gardens.

"Did we run off the road climbing a mountain? Can she really be our daughter?" Maggie began as soon as the door closed.

"Maggie, I probably should have said something sooner, but Mimasu doesn't even know I'd figured out her secret. When I was Annie's age, I found a chest that held her scrapbook with the pictures of her and her siblings from during the war. The chest also held first edition copies of the "Chronicles" with personal notes to Susan from the author. I've known every since then that she was Susan Pevensie, and that Lewis' Narnia stories were based on interviews with her and her siblings." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "A long time ago though, I gave up the dream that Narnia was a real place, yet now we're... well... here... in another world, where our little Magic is, worshiped."

"Jason..." she grabbed him as if holding a lifeline. "What is the one thing that history always teaches us about gods?"

He looked at her and saw abject terror behind her eyes, not for herself, but for Annie.

There was a knock at the door. "Jason? Maggie? It's Susan."

Jason looked back at Maggie. "Come in."

Susan and Lucy swept into the room, closing the door behind them. Susan immediately saw the terrible tension in the room. "Lu, could you pour them some wine."

Lucy took one look at their faces and complied. After each had taken a sip, Susan broached the subject. "You two look like the end of the world dropped on you. I admit the last two hours have been a series of whipsaws for you, but what exactly has you terrified?"

Maggie swallowed. "The fate of gods through history."

"And you fear for Annie?" Lucy asked.

Neither of them needed to answer.

"The best thing we can do is try to make sure that there is no point at which Annie is either threatened or forced into a choice that could result in her sacrifice." Lucy said. "However, if we don't save this world, it would have the same effect.

"Aslan explained this to me once, when he was tutoring me, in the hope I could do what Annie did. From the moment she began singing and Mimasu came into being, she has been tied to the fate of this world. If this world perishes before a certain critical juncture is reached, she dies and nothing any of us can do will stop it." Lucy paused to see if the others were following her.

"Susan, earlier this summer I spoke about how Aslan and the Emperor Beyond the Sea sought to spread Divinity. This is the great risk for the Divine. If their creations don't make it past the critical juncture they risk their continued existence."

"You're saying that God can die?" Jason asked.

"Aslan has taught me that there is balance in everything. The inverse side of creating life must be the risk of losing it permanently. Why else would Aslan have feared the stone table so?"

_"Father, if this cup can be taken from me, thy will be done."_ Maggie whispered as the wine goblet slipped from her ashen hand.

_3_

By the time Annie, Peter and Edmund had finished their briefing with the King, Maggie and Jason had composed themselves. They'd reached agreement with Susan and Lucy that it would not be wise to discuss their fears with Annie. Susan took Annie off for some archery practice, leaving Jason and Maggie with Lucy and Edmund for some sparing of their own.

Edmund was a bit shocked by the ferocity of Jason's sword work but adjusted and then guided Jason into a more effective style. The clash and clang of their swords grew quicker and more explosive. "I say Nephew, you've got quite the sword arm." Edmund complimented during one exchange.

"I don't exactly have much choice in the matter, do I, not with my little Annie at risk in this whole situation." The bitterness stung more than the blade.

"Don't let your emotions rule the fight Jason, or you open yourself to your opponent, You are her chosen Paladin, she is counting on you as her last defense, if you fall, whom will she have?"

In the next lane over, Maggie and Lucy were going after each other with staves. Maggie too attacked with ferocity, but on defense she was distracted. "Keep your guard up, cousin. Our strength is what will sustain Magic through the coming days. Protect yourself first, then attack. Don't lose focus on the most important goal, protecting Annie."

Their exchanges went far longer than Edmund or Lucy usually sparred, but each could tell that their opponent needed the physical release from the stresses they were feeling. Finally, and almost simultaneously, Jason and Maggie collapsed. Edmund and Lucy helped them to their chambers and into bed.

"Sleep well, my kin. I will keep watch on thy daughter 'til you awake." Lucy blew out the candle and closed the door.

_4_

Annie suddenly found herself wide awake. Unlike last night, she'd been sleeping well. She heard a deep purring from the window and the snap of a twig. She thought she caught a tawny glimpse of golden fur. Snagging her robe she quietly left the room so as not to awaken Lucy who was snoring lightly on top of the covers of the other bed.

Under the moonlight, the garden seemed an island of peace and normalcy compared to the tension and fear she sensed elsewhere in the castle. She strode to the center of the garden and stopped. With great gravity, she said, "I know you called me, else why should I have awakened."

The Great Cat appeared from the shadow of a large oak tree. "Yes, young one, it is I. Annie, you have done well and my friends from Narnia will stand steadfast in your service. But the time has now come, and there is one more thing you must learn about the Deep Magic."

"Sacrifice." Annie stated, her voice flat.

"Indeed, my child. As once I told you, the creator must share the fate of their world, but that does not mean that, on the grand scale of time, those fates would necessarily coincide. The Deep Magic chooses the time and place and we, you and I, Annie, are as bound by that river-like flow as any of the people of the world."

Great tears glisten in Aslan's eyes as he spoke. "Annie, what must be done can only be done by you. No one can stand in your stead.

He nosed his face against her shoulder. "You are so young, and have yet learned so little about the joys of your creation. Joys that would make what must happen seem a bearable threat. Standing here, I can see that your spirit holds far more of Lucy than Susan. You do not shrink back from what is ahead, in spite of the fear you feel."

Aslan lead Annie to a small bench. Sitting on the ground before her, he lightly rested a great paw on her shoulder. "What must happen has no guarantees. When the time comes, and the Deep Magic will let you know that precisely..." A great tear tore loose and rolled down his cheek. "Annie, you will fall. You will fall as if all the stars of the skies were rushing in after you. What's worse, though, is, when you fall, there will be nothing to catch you, neither I nor my father are allowed to interfere at that moment, the Deep Magic prevents us from reaching out for you. It is up to you to catch yourself. If you succeed, my father and I will be there with you, but if you fail to catch yourself..."

"I fall forever and ever and ever." Annie looked into his great glistening eyes.

"Even for me that risk is always present."

"How do I stop myself falling?" Annie asked.

"Find the part of my father that is in you and grasp it with all your love."

Annie searched herself, but wasn't yet sure what she was looking for.

"Annie, you are so young, would that I could take this burden from you. The risk to you..." solemnly, he shook his great mane. Another tear fell.

"Aslan, I'm scared, will you stay with me?"

"Until morning, dear daughter. Until morning."

When Annie awoke on the garden bench, her head was in Lucy's lap. "Aslan called me after you went to sleep. He told me of your conversation." Tears were running down her face. "Annie, I watched him die on the Stone Table. He came back, but still, I had to watch him die first. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do that for you as well."

"Lucy, my dear dear friend." Annie sat up. "I will never ask you to do something which you are unwilling or unable, but after all the stories we've read and studies we've made this summer, I know the reason you are Queen Lucy the Valiant. You have a hidden strength that sustains others when all else seems lost. I only ask you to be strong enough to stand as my anchor in the days to come."

Lucy dried her eyes. "I will do my best. You may only be nine, but you are no longer a child."

"I don't think I've been a child since I fell through that chest of Susan's."

They heard the call to breakfast from the inner courtyard. "I'm not really hungry. Can we just talk for a while? I need to figure out something Aslan said last night, and talking it through may help."

"All right, Magic." She sniffed her nose clear. "What puzzle has he left with you?"

"When I fall, in order to catch myself, Aslan said I am supposed to _'find the part of my father that is in me and grab it with all my love.'_ I need to know what that is if I am to have any hope."

_5_

Susan found Peter and Edmund looking over maps of Mimasu, familiarizing themselves with the land over which they would soon be battling.

"Aslan was here last night." Peter said.

"We saw him in the garden talking with Annie. It looked like a private conversation, so we stayed inside." Edmund added.

"Lucy told me, she suspects he came to talk to her about...about what he did for you Edmund."

"Is that what had Jason and Maggie upset yesterday?" Edmund asked

Susan Nodded. "I fear for them. They are as new here as we once were in Narnia, but when, not if, but when Annie sacrifices herself, it's going to tear them to pieces, after all, she is their daughter. Why did I insist she come to stay with me for the summer?"

"Susan, I know you're sixty years out of practice on this, but when Aslan calls you to do something, it is best not to ignore it."

"Peter, Jason is my grandson, Maggie is the kind of wife a mother dreams of their son finding. There must be some way we can protect or prepare them for what is coming."

"The best cure is for them to have Annie, alive and whole, in their arms." Edmund stated. "To that end, we must either win without her having to sacrifice herself, or we must make sure she is as prepared as possible so that she doesn't falter at the moment when all hangs in the balance."

Peter leaned over the map. "Back to the business at hand then. Siblings, your opinions, intelligence reports indicate weaknesses in the opposition in these places." He tapped the map. "What say you to some raiding?"


	12. Knightfall

**Knightfall**

_1_

"I don't know, Nephew." The High King was busy assembling his party for the raid. "Annie would not be very happy if something were to happen to you out there."

"Can't you see? I have to know if I have what it takes! All I have ever done are choreographed and set piece demonstrations. My little girl is at risk here, and I have to know..." He thumped his fist against his chest, "...here! That I have what it takes."

Peter could see the determination in Jason's eyes. He could also see the desperation. A desperate man would be a great liability on such a mission as he was leading, but he could also see how much Jason needed the self confidence that only participating in the action could bring.

"Very well, I will yield, but you are a member of _my_ party. As such, you will obey every command. If I order you, alone, to fall back and report our demise," Peter's eyes grew very hard, "you will do so without fail. Am I understood?"

"I need to know that I won't run from a fight." Jason was defiant.

"Nephew, I need to know that if so ordered you will do exactly that. Otherwise, I cannot trust you to accompany us!"

Peter watched Jason struggle with his conscience. In the end, he agreed to Peter's terms. "For Annie, I will do what I must to know that she is safe."

Peter saw the change in his demeanor. "Nephew..." He paused and grasped Jason's right arm. "Jason, with the choice you just made, you have already found a large part of that which you are seeking." Peter mounted his horse. "Stay close to Edmund, follow his orders, and you will come through this with the rest of what you seek. For Annie and Aslan." With the salute, he turned his steed to inspect the rest of the raiding party.

_2_

"Lord Tirbolan, we have reports from the enemy camp."

"More news of this child who arrived yesterday?" Disdain dripped from the dark magician's voice. "I told you then, they have staged a hoax to soothe their people's unrest at our victorious march."

"Lord, a Great Cat was seen in the Castle last night. It was seen neither to arrive nor depart." The General trembled at the anger he saw in his Lord's demeanor. "In the first days of this world, the Cat and the Child traveled together. Surely, if this were a hoax, Aurailic would be making much of the presence of _both _the Great Cat and the Child, and not just the Child alone."

"Tell me more of this Child and her party." The threat of what would happen if the report failed to contain useful information hung with cold dread between them.

"My Lord, she travels in the company of a Royal party from a land far far distant from our own. They are of great and warlike stature, although none have yet witnessed them to fight." He paused to gauge Tirbolan's reaction, it wasn't pleasant. "Even the women carry themselves with a strength and assurance that those around them find infectious. They go armed, like their men, and have demonstrated great skill and proficiency with the arms they carry.

"There are two in the party, however, who do not seem as impressive. They do not carry themselves as Noble's. In conversation, they have been heard to refer to themselves as the Child's parents."

"Parents?" Tirbolan sat up and looked intently at the General for the first time during the report.

"Indeed sir. Strangely, while this child has powers as those prophesied as belonging to The Child, these two, of those that accompany her, behave as parents afraid for their offspring."

"This is information I might be able to use. Seek an opportunity to capture one of these 'parents'." Tirbolan waved a dismissal to the officer then turned and swept from the room.

_3_

Jason was tired like he had never been before. Peter had not been content merely to conduct a raid against one weak spot. The party had attacked first one, then another, and yet a third spot. By avian messenger, Peter had been maintaining contact with the Castle, keeping up with the enemy's movements, always attacking where the enemy was weakest.

After the first attack, Jason had been quietly sick at the aftermath of the battle. Edmund had stayed by him, lending his support as Jason came to grips with what war meant on Mimasu. He now rode up alongside Jason. "Annie has chosen her Paladin well, Nephew. Peter says we will be making one more raid this evening, immediately after sunset. Once more in the teeth, and back to the Castle for a rest."

That afternoon, Peter called a halt to rest and water the horses before the raid. Under a copse of trees he called Jason and Edmund to him. "Jason, may I see your sword." It was clearly a politely phrased order.

Jason drew his blade and handed it over to Peter. Peter inspected it carefully. "A fine weapon Nephew, and well cared for."

Edmund stepped up beside Jason and rested a gauntleted hand upon Jason's shoulder. "Kneel Nephew."

The other raiders gathered around as Peter raised the sword to point at the sky. "Jason Allen Temple, by your actions and valor, you have proven yourself worthy in my service." Peter lowered the sword to Jason's shoulders. "Rise, Sir Jason, Knight Protector of Narnia, Chosen Paladin of Annie, friend of Aslan."

Jason rose and with great gravity, accepted back and sheathed his sword.

_4_

Two days later, a very subdued group rode back into the Castle. By any measure, the raids had been a great success. They had sown confusion amongst the enemy, and had only lost one raider. Unfortunately, he was lost on the last raid. Jason Allen Temple had been swept from his mount and captured.


	13. Falling

**Falling**

_1_

'Is this a nightmare?' Annie could sense herself falling. She felt that she had been falling for days. Every since King Peter's raiders had returned without her father.

Oh, the joy she had felt seeing the party returning to the castle. Then she had seen the sadness in Peter's eyes, not yet realizing that Daddy wasn't just among those still outside the gates. She'd looked up as Lucy's gay laughter chopped short on encountering Edmund.

Edmund, who, with tears in his eyes had dismounted and walked straight to her, knelt, and hugged her as if he would never let go. "It was dark, something massive reared in our path and our horses swept to either side of it." He had begun. "I heard a thud, and his riderless horse joined up with me. As I turned back to find him, the massive thing took flight, crying back that it had the Lord Tirbolan's prize."

Mom, standing behind her, burst out in tears as Edmund continued. "He was still alive, for he cried out against the beast that held him, but it flew deep into enemy territory, and far to swiftly to follow."

That moment, a deep pain had begun in her chest, centered around the emptiness of not having her father there. That was the moment she first sensed herself falling.

She'd listened to the plans the others laid to get him back, and knew that they had no chance of success. She had reached out to the Deep Magic, and touched Tirbolan's mind, gleaning his intentions. He planned to sacrifice her father, so that his blood tie to Annie would give Tirbolan power over her, and with power over her, he could twist the will of the last of the resistance. Unless she could stop that sacrifice, Mimasu would be lost.

Force of arms would be useless. The Deep Magic cried out that her time was at hand. That evening, she prepared herself to go after her father. She found one last fortune cookie in her pack, opening it, she read the fortune, smiled wistfully and left it on her pillow. Instead of the white dress, she wore the white gi she'd used to spar with Lucy all summer. This time, her bow would be strung, and at her side would be her best blade.

She'd led her horse through the sally port and was preparing to mount when she realized she wasn't alone. In front of her stood the four Pevensies, and her mother.

_2_

Lucy continued to fall. She looked around her and realized that everywhere there were falling lights. 'Aslan said that it would be like all the stars of heaven were falling with me. Are these stars?' She noticed that she was falling faster than the lights. She rolled over and looked down, watching the lights below detach themselves from the group ahead and rise past her. One passed close by, and she thought she heard it say something, but she wasn't sure. She returned to her memories.

The argument had been epic, but in the end, weeping, Mom had backed down. She couldn't argue with the fact that if Annie let Dad die, everyone would die. She'd then tried to convince them all to let her go alone. In the end, she'd only convinced Mom to stay, because she needed to know Mom was safe to take care of Daddy. Peter had finally agreed to stay to continue to coordinate the defense and try to organize an offense, but Susan, Lucy, and Edmund were steadfast.

"Lucy and Susan have been here before, with Aslan," Edmund stated, "Aslan died for me, I should have been there for him." He paused. "I was responsible for your father's safety. I failed." He shook his head. "Maybe, on the way, I can think of some way to stop his death that won't involve your sacrifice."

"Very well, this will be a very lonely trek, and I do welcome the company." Lucy and Susan both looked up at her very sadly at that statement. "I will do what I can to ensure your safety and the safe evacuation of my Dad, but I can make no guarantees beyond that."

"Do you know where we're going?" Lucy asked.

"The first nexus." Annie had stated.

Edmund had familiarized himself with the current situation on the front lines, and they were able to swiftly circumvent the enemy sentries and patrols. Riding fast, she led them to the hill with the giant tooth like monoliths in only four days. It had now been six days since her father had been captured, and Tirbolan was nearing the end of his preparations for the sacrifice.

_3_

Annie continued to fall, and now there were very few lights in front of her. As she looked around, she realized she was little more than a spot of light herself. It came to her that the lights were people from Mimasu who had died since she had created the world. She passed the last of the lights, there was only darkness ahead. Her memories overwhelmed her again.

She had come up with a plan to get her father back and safely to the castle. Briefly, she knelt with Lucy, Susan, and Edmund, touching each of their forehead's with her own. At the contact, she'd shared a little bit of herself. Just enough to protect them against Tirbolan and give them the strength to fight their way out if necessary.

She left Edmund and Lucy on a hill where they could see both the first nexus, with it's jagged stone teeth, and Tirbolan's fortress. They used the power she had shared with them to blend in and disappear from casual observation. Unarmed, both Susan and she rode to the fortress.

"Mimasu." Annie hadn't called her that in weeks. It felt strange. "Whatever happens, do not blame yourself. As a child, I idolized you, as whatever it is I have become, I respect you and your wisdom. As both, I love you. If it is at all possible, I will return, but if not, I want you to know how much I treasure your love."

Susan nodded to accept the comment. "Did you ever figure out that instruction Aslan left?"

"No." Annie stared at the ground in front of her.

"Well, If all else fails, grasp the love that each of us has for you. Maybe that will be enough."

She had negotiated her father's release with Tirbolan, and then had stood aside to watch as Susan led him from the fortress. Mercifully, his mind was muddled and he did not notice her there.

As night began, she walked slowly to the top of the hill, in amongst the stone teeth. She whispered a prayer as Tirbolan's minions had secured her to the device. There was a flash of pain, and she had begun to fall in earnest.

_4_

Annie was now surrounded by darkness. As she continued to fall, she thought back to her conversation with Aslan.

_"I fall forever and ever and ever."_

_"Even for me that risk is always present."_

_"How do I stop myself falling?" Annie had asked._

_"Find the part of my father that is in you and grasp it with all your love."_

But what part of Aslan's father was inside her.

She continued to fall, time was beginning to lose its meaning to her. How long had she been falling? She rolled over and looked up. All the other lights were now a very dim glow far behind her.

_"Well, If all else fails, grasp the love that each of us has for you. Maybe that will be enough."_ Susan had said.

She thought back to her sunday school classes, suddenly she had a hint. Could it really be that simple?

She reached out.


	14. Valley Of The Shadow

**Valley of the Shadow**

_1_

At the moment that Tirbolan's Device activated, Jason's mind snapped back to clarity. He was looking directly at the device from the area where Susan, Lucy, Edmund and he were hiding. He saw the small body upon it, then a blur of confusion, and then the body lay broken and limp. He started forward.

Edmund tackled him. "Jason, if you go out there, you will be killed, and her sacrifice will be for naught."

"That...that was Annie!" Weakened by the tortures and deprivations he had endured, Jason collapsed into sobs. His sobs turned to rage and he turned on Susan. "You promised to protect her. How could you bring her here and let her do that!"

Susan, tears streaming down her own face, walked over and slapped him. "How dare you! You, of all people, know what she has become. Once the risk to you was clear, and through you, the risk to everyone else, there was absolutely no way to stop this. None of us, you and she included, had any choice in this."

Jason looked up and saw both sorrow and hope in their eyes. The sorrow he accepted, the hope he derided. "You think she is some new version of your Great Cat. A messiah for this world." He screamed. "She was a nine year old girl. My daughter! The joy and light of my life! Now she's gone!" He huddled up in a ball repeating "gone...gone...gone"

Lucy sat down beside him, resting a hand on his quaking shoulders. Sobbing heavily herself.

Susan, stung by Jason's rejection, retreated to the far side of their camp.

Edmund watched the hill as Tirbolan's minions filtered away.

Jason had cried until he finally collapsed from grief and exhaustion. Edmund called Susan and Lucy over. "Break camp, and be ready to ride fast. Get Jason in the saddle. I may not have been able to prevent her death, but I am not leaving her body in that foul monster's hands."

As soon as all was ready, Edmund rode off toward the hill. Moving silently among the stones he was able to catch the two remaining minions unawares. Swiftly he cut the bindings and gathered Annie's broken body to his own. Retreating to his horse, he swiftly mounted and raced to join the others.

_2_

Their return to Aurailic's castle was misery. Annie's body was laid in state in the throne room. Maggie and Jason were prostrate in their grief. They spent all of their time on the floor by the table on which her body had been lain.

The Pevensies called a family council in Lucy's room.

"Aslan returned after a mere six hours, Christ was raised on the third day. It has now been five days, I fear that Annie has not succeeded in this last test." Susan began.

Lucy was fingering a slip of paper she had found on Annie's pillow when they returned.

"One should count each day a separate life." She read. "Fortune cookie, I think Annie left us one final message." She had been struck almost as badly by Annie's death, as Jason and Maggie.

"The enemy is moving." Peter added. "Tirbolan has apparently completed his magic, and now comes to finish us off."

"Then let us stand and do Annie's memory honor." Edmund stated. "I shall endeavor to reach Jason and Maggie."

"We should plan a funeral for Annie." Lucy said. "Perhaps a pyre?"

"We don't have much time, nightfall tomorrow?" Peter suggested. "The enemy will be upon us by the next morning."

Edmund convinced Jason and Maggie that no further purpose would be served by keeping Annie's body around. The six of them each cut a lock of her hair for remembrance and then prepared the body for the fire.

As the flames climbed pyre, Jason began singing the lullaby songs he sung for Annie. Lucy recognized the song Annie had sung to bring Mimasu into existence, and sang along with Jason.

Next he sang a song Susan recognized from the day they'd dropped Annie off at the beginning of the summer. Susan could feel the love in his voice as he sang Jimmy Buffett's "Little Miss Magic". He was doing very well until he got to the end of the first chorus.

_Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be?_

_Little Miss Magic, just you wait and see._

As he sang those lines, his voice broke, Jason began crying and couldn't continue. They retreated within the Castle, and watched the fire burn down to embers.

_3_

War drums awakened them before false dawn. Aurailic and Peter were assembling their forces on the fields before the castle.

Edmund came into Jason and Maggie's room. "Sir Jason, Lady Margaret. Jason, today, I would be honored to have you by my side. Peter assembles our forces to repulse Tirbolan's onslaught. Maggie, Lucy asks that you accompany her today. I fear before this day is through, there will be no noncombatants. Gird yourselves and meet us in the foyer."

Jason hugged Maggie. "I swear that Tirbolan will die by my sword for what he did to Annie."

Maggie merely looked at him with deep sadness on her face.

"Stay near Lucy, she will keep you well. If I do not survive this day, feel joy for me, as I go to be with our daughter." He gathered his sword and shield and left the room.

"No, darling," Maggie finally said. "Don't leave me alone!" She screamed. Grabbing her quarterstaff, she sprinted out the door to find Jason before he got himself killed. Too late, she saw him mounted and riding through the gate at Edmund's side.

Lucy came up to her. "Maggie, what's wrong?"

"Everything!" She screamed. "Annie's dead! And now Jason rides off to battle and I know. KNOW! That he is not coming back!"

Lucy swept her into a hug.

"How will I go on without them both? My beautiful daughter, my brave husband."

"Maggie, the battle is not yet begun, fortunes have turned for battles far more one sided than this. Hope is our greatest weapon now, do not relinquish it!"

"How can you speak of hope now?"

"Because right here," Lucy touched both her own and Maggie's chests, right over the heart, "I know that Annie is not dead. So long as we live to hold her memory, she lives! Edmund will make Jason understand this. You will not lose him because he lacks the will to live."

_4_

At false dawn, the first charge was made. Under the light of torches, the twisted minions of Lord Tirbolan flowed towards the defender's lines. The sight was erie and unnatural. Great black ribbons flowing across grey fields punctuated by orange glows here and there.

Arrows flew as the archers picked off the torch bearers, hoping to hamper the enemy movement by depriving him of light. Tirbolan's forces were unable to attain an advantage and fell back to regroup. Under the lightening sky, skirmishes began to break out as small parties charged out from either line to test the other's mettle. At true dawn, a great cry went up, and Aurailic's cavalry charged against Tirbolan's forces. They swept into the front of the line, decimating the forces arrayed there, but then they fell back again, as Tirbolan's cavalry responded. As hoped, Tirbolan's cavalry forces came with reach of Susan's archers, and many of them remained where they encountered her.

As the time wore on, the skirmishes became more serious. Peter drew back the cavalry as Aurailic readied the infantry to receive the enemy's first main charge. Arrows rained on the approaching formation, but did little to stop or slow it. Finally, at the moment the sun came above the castle and shined down on the front line, the two forces collided.

Looking out across the field, the defenders could see Tirbolan himself, standing on a hilltop, waving a staff around his head. As he waved the staff, darkness seemed to swirl about him.


	15. Movement And Timing

**Movement and Timing**

_1_

Annie grasped at the love she felt for Susan, and knew Susan felt for her. She gathered it into herself and held it tight. She then did the same for Lucy. 'Am I slowing?' Edmund... Peter...

Mom...

Daddy!

"God is LOVE!" she yelled defiance at the Deep Magic.

She'd stopped. She wasn't falling. She saw two bright lights above her, and she rose(!) to meet them.

"Welcome Annie, and well done!"

"Aslan?"

"Indeed... my friend." The light to her left spoke. "May I introduce you to The Emperor Beyond the Sea, my father."

A deeper voice spoke. "Welcome Annie, the first new one of us since before time existed. Aslan speaks highly of you. You have mastered much for one so very very young."

"Annie, this is a moment of great joy, will you dance with us?" Aslan asked.

Annie's heart was filled with music such that she could not have stayed still had she wanted to. They danced and danced in the darkness, and as they danced, Annie noticed that they never went below a certain level. As they continued to dance, she began to see a great net taking shape, around them. They were weaving a floor to catch those above who were still falling.

The song in her heart changed shape, and she began singing a song she had learned at camp.

_I danced in the morning _

_when the world was begun_

_and I danced in the moon_

_ and the stars and the sun_

The light that was Aslan swung by her at that point and sang the next line.

_I came down from heaven _

_and I danced on the earth_

_At Bethlehem I had my birth_

Together the three of them sang.

_Dance then wherever you may be_

_for I am the Lord of the Dance said he_

_and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be_

_for I am the Lord of the Dance! said he._

They sang and danced and wove until it was not possible for any of the falling lights to miss the net. Aslan then went over to the edge of the net, and he made a door.

The lights began to arrive, and Annie stood by the door shouting welcome to the people of her world as they bounced on the net and came to the door.

_2_

Under the cover of darkness, Edmund had led the raiding party around the edges of the impending battle. They had taken up position behind the rearmost of Tirbolan's forces.

Peter and Aurailic were to maneuver, posture, and attack to maintain Tirbolan's focus on the front lines. At the moment when Tirbolan fully committed his forces to the attack, Edmund was to lead his raiders against Tirbolan himself. It was hoped that the distraction of the battle to his front would enable their success.

From their place of concealment, they watched Tirbolan's forces work themselves up for the charge as the sun rose above the castle. As the front ranks fully engaged, a great noise came up from the direction of the castle.

As the noise reached them, Edmund and Jason lead the charge against Tirbolan.

His personal guard was reacting, but not fast enough.

"For Annie!" Jason screamed.

_3_

Annie noticed that one of the lights was hanging back. Annie drifted over to it.

"I am Annie. All here are welcome, my daughter." She noticed the light was shivering and trembling. "What do you fear?"

"My name is Aureilia." Another tremor passed. "I do not fear for myself Annie, I fear for my beloved."

"As I said, all who will accept, are welcome."

"Even the one who put you to death?"

"Do you ask this of me, dear one?" Annie asked her.

"Please?" Aureilia asked.

"The choice shall be his, will he accept?"

"If you let me ask him, I know he will!" Aureilia's strength broke through her fear.

"Wait here, I'll be right back."

Annie consulted with Aslan and the Emperor. Aslan agreed to accompany her and Aureilia back to try to save Tirbolan from the darkness consuming him. "Time is very short Annie. You have been gone from above a long time. We must hurry."

They lent their strength to Aureilia, and the three of them rose swiftly through the descending spirits, returning to the world of the living.

_4_

Lucy and Maggie were tending the wounded. For most, basic bandages sufficed, but for certain special cases, those where a warrior could be saved and sent back into the fight, Lucy doled out drops of her precious cordial.

During one of the skirmishes, a party of Tirbolan's mercenaries broke through. They shouted with glee at finding themselves among the wounded, and confronted by two women.

Maggie looked up. For days, she had been paralyzed by grief, and now, here in front of her stood men in the service of the architect of that grief. Something inside her audibly snapped. Grief transitioned to acceptance, purpose, and then action.

In a swift, flowing motion, she kicked her quarterstaff off the ground, caught it and, giving fierce voice to the ululating Amazon war-cry that had been such a crowd pleaser at the Renaissance Faires, she charged. Spinning the staff, she dropped to her knees and swept three of the five mercenaries off their feet. Back flipping clear, she passed Lucy, herself charging with drawn sword. The two standing mercenaries never noticed the blade that cut them down, so focused were they on pursuing Maggie.

Two of the remaining three men had now regained their feet. The first turned and engaged Lucy. Swords flashed and sparks flew as they battled. Maggie saw the second maneuvering to attack from Lucy's weak side.

Maggie charged again, planting the quarterstaff as a pole to vault with, she sailed over Lucy and her opponent. Too late, the mercenary saw her coming and tried to raise his sword. Her feet contacted with the second mercenary's head, he went down and stayed down. A whoosh went by her ear, followed by a thump behind her. Looking back, she saw the sword fall from the third mercenary's hand. A red fletched arrow protruding from his chest. She looked back the other direction. A hundred yards away, Susan smiled, waved, and turned back to directing her archers.

Lucy dispatched the last of the mercenaries before the reinforcements could arrive. "You're not needed here." She ordered. "Go! Help plug the gap they came in through." She cleaned and sheathed her sword.

The two women went back to tending the awestruck wounded.

_5_

The sun came above the castle and shined down on the front line, the two forces collided. As the front ranks fully engaged, a great noise came up from the direction of the castle. Peter, Susan and Lucy all recognized that roar and looked toward the parapet.

Aslan, with Annie and Aureilia astride his back leapt from the battlements and landed alongside Peter and Aurailic. With great gravity, Aureilia addressed the King. "My brother, I have returned with Annie in the hope of saving my beloved husband from the darkness my death brought upon him. We must win through to him, and quickly."

"Are you sure about this, Annie?" Peter asked.

"As you and Edmund have learned, forgiveness is a prime ingredient for love. Without forgiveness, I have not love, and without love, I would not be here."

Susan ran up at that moment. "Annie! You're alive!"

Annie smiled at her great-grandmother. "We're short on time, have you a mount?"

Peter paused from organizing the cavalry. "I'll get her one."

"We ride for Tirbolan, and we stop for nothing." Annie could see Edmund and Jason's charge on the far side of the battlefield. "And we must hurry!"

Annie and Aureilia, still astride Aslan had point. Aurailic rode on their left, Peter on their right, and Susan behind, with the rest of the cavalry organized, they set off.

"Susan, sound your horn as we ride!" Annie called back.

Aslan roared, Susan's horn blew and the last charge began, not to kill Tirbolan, but to save him.


	16. Child of Light

**Child of Light**

_1_

Edmund looked up from his fight with Tirbolan's guards. He saw Jason, fighting toward Tirbolan with the ferocity of an angry dragon. What had he just heard? He dispatched the guard before him and looked further afield.

Suddenly, he heard Susan's horn, but instead of the cry of distress they always associated with it's sound, it rang with a fearsome joy. Alongside the horn, as if supporting it over the distance, he heard a roar. He looked toward the front line.

In front of the castle, the enemy line was not only buckling, it appeared to be melting away. Suddenly, he saw a brilliant flash of white astride tawny gold at the apex of the charge. His heart leapt with great joy. "For Annie and Aslan!" he cried, and redoubled his efforts to win through the guard.

He could hear the charge growing closer. He looked back, unexpectedly, the charge was still coming. By this point, the cavalry wings should have peeled off to attack the enemy's support units, but instead, they still came, straight at this hill. Susan's horn still shrilling it's joyous note. Something wasn't right. Edmund had the thought that perhaps they were trying to stop the attack on Tirbolan. Continuing to spar with his opponent, he thought about that. Annie and Aslan were charging the hill where Tirbolan was. Surely Annie would not be seeking vengeance. Why would they charge? To stop us? Killing Tirbolan would win the war, but if Annie was alive, the war was won anyway!

"Retreat! Retreat! Fall back from the crest!" He cried. Aslan had forgiven him when he had served the evil White Witch. He could now see it clearly, Annie needed to forgive Tirbolan!

His men fell back around him. Not recognizing the situation, Tirbolan's guards pressed the attack against the retreating force. In the confusion, no one noticed Jason continuing to press home his attempt to reach Tirbolan.

_2_

Jason was consumed with rage. At the top of the knoll, he could see the monster that had killed his little girl. Yet every time he thought he was in the clear to go after him, another guard showed up. He'd left three in his wake so far, and the fourth was faltering.

The horn and sound of the charge barely registered. He won free of the final guard. Tirbolan was in front of him. Jason swung his sword in a massive two-handed blow. Tirbolan managed to deflect it with his staff, which shattered. The dark mist surrounding the hilltop dissipated. He could feel the ground rumbling, goading him on to finish off this monster who had taken his Annie from him. Tirbolan tripped trying to backpedal away from him. Jason pressed home the attack, sinking his sword deep into Tirbolan's lower abdomen.

Jason drew back to strike again...

...and found his stroke parried.

_3_

As they crested the hill, Peter saw Jason sink his sword into Tirbolan's stomach. They were too late, Lucy and her cordial had been left with their own wounded, and now there was no time to send for her.

Aslan half paused, and Peter's mount came alongside momentarily. In a flash, Annie had reached out and snagged his sword neatly from his hands. Aslan then gave a tremendous leap, landing behind Jason. Mid leap, Annie had separated from Aslan, alighting to one side of Jason and Tirbolan. Peter saw his sword, now in Annie's possession snake out and block Jason's attempt to finish off Tirbolan.

Peter could now see that Jason was so consumed by rage that he did not recognize who it was blocking him. He continued to try to attack Tirbolan. Annie parried and blocked every blow, all the while trying to get him to let go of his anger and open his eyes.

Finally, Annie had to go on the attack. With great skill, she forced Jason to retreat away from Tirbolan. Like Tirbolan, he stepped in a hole, tripped and fell on his back. Expecting to die, he finally focused on who he had been fighting.

"Daddy, do you yield?"

_4_

On seeing their Lord fall, and the charge arrive, Tirbolan's guards fled. Edmund rushed back up the hill. He saw Annie fighting her father, driving him away from Tirbolan. Another young woman leapt from Aslan's back and threw herself weeping, at Tirbolan.

"Aureilia, did my magics finally work?" Tirbolan croaked. "Have you returned to me in my hour of death?"

"Beloved, I have come back, but by the grace of magics more powerful than any you could have dreamed of." Aureilia responded.

"But how?"

Annie had left her stunned father lying on the field to return to Tirbolan and Aureilia's side. "She asked me, to offer you what I offered her." Annie spoke.

"You... you're..ddd...I..I...Killed..."

"I am risen." She stated. "Tirbolan, your pain is my fault. I sang the deep loneliness that lays beneath this world. When your beloved Aureilia died, that loneliness attached itself to you. I now banish it from this world forever. And you, dear Tirbolan, you I forgive. Eternity with Aureilia awaits you. Do you accept?"

Tirbolan smiled, a truly happy smile. Years seemed to wash away from his features. He looked at Aureilia. "Eternity with you, my beloved. I will always choose."

Aureilia leaned down, kissed him passionately, and he collapsed. She looked at Annie and smiled. "Thank you Annie!" She looked at her brother. "I must go be with him now, farewell." She faded to mist, and was gone.

Jason staggered up and placing his hand on Annie's shoulder, he gripped as if holding on for his life. "Are you going to disappear like that?" He whispered.

A rumbling, purring laugh broke out. "No Jason," Aslan said. "I believe your world will be stuck with Magic here for another eighty or ninety years. Give or take."


	17. Forgiveness, Love And Home

**Forgiveness, Love and Home**

_1_

All those who had been twisted to Tirbolan's service were now released from his spell. There was much joy and greeting of old friends. There was much weeping as well for those fallen who could not revel in their newfound freedom. In a few places, those who served of their own volition fought their way clear to escape.

Annie, Aslan and Jason walked back across the field. The Pevensies held back, allowing Jason space to absorb that Annie was alive.

Alive! The cloud that had hung over him since he stepped into Mimasu's throne room disappeared.

"Jason, it is good to see you smiling." Aslan said. "What you have endured is far worse than what Annie experienced, for though the risk to her was and always will be real, the choice and control were hers."

Jason looked at the beautiful creature beside him, soothed by it's words. "Aslan, I must ask of you one thing."

"If it is within my abilities, it shall be yours."

"Annie. I am not strong enough to go through this again. So long as we live in our world, she can't create another. Promise me she won't be allowed to."

"Daddy, I am young, one world is more than enough for me to look after. Besides, I do not look forward to doing that again anytime soon!"

Aslan laughed. "Nor do I my child. Nor do I, but there is time before us for such things. Besides, I sense that Jason here has more strength and ability than he may know."

Twin blurs arrived at that moment. Annie's mom swept her off the ground swinging her around and around in great circles. Lucy dancing around the periphery, both shouting "Alive!" over and over.

Finally, she put Annie down and walked over to Jason. With great gravity, she addressed him. "You left me. You left me thinking you were going to your death! Have you forgotten the vow we took! Under the eyes of two thousand fairegoers, God and most likely this Great Cat here, we swore ourselves to each other. We are one! Never ever leave me like that again! If you go to die in battle, I intend to be right alongside you."

Aslan chuckled, then it grew, and he laughed.

"What is so funny?"

"The look on your face oh Son of Adam. I was watching, I know what you swore and the Fair Lady Margaret is in the right. I suggest you put your eyes back in their sockets and prostrate yourself before her seeking that which young Magic here has an excess of."

As Aslan continued laughing with the joy of life, he began rolling around on the field. Recognizing something in his expression, Lucy and Susan jumped in and began wrestling with him. Seeing the romp for what it was, Annie dove in as well.

Peter looked over at Edmund. Having only heard their sister's tales of the romp by the stone table, they were unsure. "Brother, it doesn't look at all dignified."

"No Peter, it doesn't. On the other hand. He is the King over all other Kings of Narnia, even you."

Shedding their armor, after all, a romp is no fun if you get hurt, they dove into the fun.

Standing to one side, Jason and Maggie made peace, and then hugged each other. "I want to give Magic a baby brother." Maggie whispered. "Look how much fun the Pevensies are having. Annie shouldn't be an only child."

With great joy, they watched as the Kings and Queens of Narnia, the Great Lion Aslan, and their beloved Annie chased all over the field like little children.

Removing Jason's armor, Maggie whispered. "Catch me if you can, Sir Jason!" And took off into the melee.

_2_

That afternoon, Annie was again in the Castle garden with Aslan. "Did you mean what you said. About the eighty or ninety years?"

"My child, no one, not even I, knows the exact time or date. Do not think that you are invincible."

"Oh, I won't. I feel like I'm too young to think this way, but that much time. What am I going to do?"

"What we all do, Dear one. Love, cry, smile, laugh, fight, forgive. In short you will live. And what you learn from that life will guide you in what we will do next. In the mean time, you have a beautiful world here Annie. Take good care of it."

"It's time to leave again, I can feel it."

"Indeed, but tonight there is the feast, and there is one last thing thing to do in the morning."

"Are you staying for the feast?"

"Annie, I'll be with you until it is time to go."

Annie stretched her arms around his great neck. "I know it was no accident, thank you for calling me through that chest. It's too bad my own latent abilities interfered with the directions." Annie grinned, one didn't surprise Aslan often. "Don't look so shocked. You're the one who taught me to read the Deep Magic."

_3_

They bid their farewells to King Aurailic and his court the next morning. Aslan and Annie led the party toward the harbor.

"Not the clearing?" Susan asked.

"I've made an arrangement, my child. One, of which, I am sure you'll approve." Aslan answered.

As they left the woods and came in view of the harbor, the party got their first view of a grand swan-bowed galley tied alongside the dock.

"Why... is that..." Susan spluttered.

"the _Splendour Hyaline!"_ Peter shouted.

As they approached the dock, they were met by some of the crew. "Aslan said you would be wanting a ride back!" The captain greeted.

"Caspian?" Susan asked.

"Indeed, my Queen." He bowed. "Edmund, you are right, the _Dawn Treader_ is no match for this beauty, though I still favor her."

"We brought a couple of passengers along with us as well." From the back of the crowd, two men came forward, one with a professorial air and bright smiling eyes. The other with a bright shock of red hair and an infectious grin.

"ALEX!" Susan ran into his arms.

"Sweet Susie! Oh, how I've missed you. You know, Jack here has been telling me the most outrageous tales for the last twenty years. He finally convinced me to go visiting, and we arrive in a strange harbor just in time to get dragged aboard for this voyage. And here I find you at the end of it!"

Susan looked over at Aslan. "Does this mean..."

Aslan smiled, "My Dear, _we_ are going home."

Annie, Maggie, and Jason all hugged Susan. She gave her diaries to Annie.

"Mimasu, thank you for everything. I will treasure these forever." Annie picked up the bag of Diaries that Susan had been carrying.

Annie sought out Lucy. "This summer, you were like a sister to me. Will you meet me here from time to time?"

"I promise to try Annie, but you realize that now that you have been a success creating worlds, Aslan is going to start tutoring me all the harder."

Annie hugged her. "Good Luck! Here is a hint for you, always remember, it's all about Love."

The crew and passengers boarded the _Splendour Hyaline._ Last of all was Aslan. He turned back to Annie. "I leave this world to you, I know it is in good care."

The crew cast off. Susan and Lucy stood at the rail, waving.

Annie waved back. "See you in eighty years, give or take!" she shouted.

Golden Lion on Scarlet field, the Narnian Banner at the head of the mainmast stood out, the wind caught the sails, foam formed around the bow and the ship challenged the rollers at the entrance to the harbor. As she sailed into the mist beyond the harbor, the three on shore distinctly heard Aslan's roar.


	18. The Great Adventure

**The Great Adventure**

_1_

Annie, Maggie and Jason reappeared in the throne room. Susan's elderly body collapsed on the floor beside them. Jason leaned over to check her pulse. Tear's formed in his eyes. "It was real. She's gone."

Jason carried her body to the bedroom, then went to call an ambulance, just to make things official. Annie and her mother set about restoring the throne room. Annie bent the rules and called the table back out of Mimasu where they'd left it and restored the crowns. She redisplayed the replica gifts where Susan had so lovingly kept them.

On the floor, she found a pair of fortune cookies, unable to resist, she handed one to her mother, the other she cracked open. "Behold, a gift from Aslan" she read. Puzzled, her mother and she looked at each other, then looked around. Then Annie noticed. "Look at the Tapestry." The tapestry of the queen was reweaving itself. It now held two thrones and from the near one, Queen Susan the Gentle looked over them with a smile. Queen Lucy the Valiant now had an impish grin and appeared to be winking at them.

Maggie opened her fortune cookie. "Good things will come to you in the due course of time." She read. "I don't see how, seeing as the best thing of all is standing here in front of me already."

_2_

They buried Susan in the small clearing from which she had first envisioned Cair Paravel on the mountain top. A simple stone marker read:

Susan Pevensie-Temple

Our Gentle Queen

Annie was named as Susan's Heir, inheriting Paravel Valley and control of the Trust Jack had established. They moved into Susan's house, and eventually, Maggie and Jason gave Annie siblings of her own.

Over the years, Annie had many more adventures on Mimasu. When necessary, she would call people from this world to help her, usually people who somehow needed to find a place like Mimasu as well.

She became a Doctor with an uncanny knack for identifying exactly what was wrong and curing it. Those she could not cure she gave great comfort to. Going so far as to personally guide them to the gate by the net and introduce them to those who waited there.

Eventually, she did the same for both Maggie and Jason. In each case, Aslan was waiting to greet them and take them to the Castle at Cair Paravel in the real Narnia.

_3_

Annie could sense that her time was nearing. She'd lived a full life, married, had kids and now had great-grandchildren of her own.

On the eve of her eighty-ninth birthday, she called her entire family to the valley. She threw open the doors to the Throne Room and gathered everyone there. Sitting in Queen Susan's Throne she shared with them all the stories of Narnia, published and unpublished. She shared the story of Mimasu. She told of the gift she'd been blessed with.

"Some of you may have this gift as well. I will await you in your due time to join in this great adventure. In the meantime, all this, the stories, the valley, and the house I leave to you. Care for them always with love."

With that she collapsed and began her own journey to the gate.

She was met there by Lucy and Jason.

"Tirbolan and Aureilia are hosting a party in your honor tonight." Lucy said.

"But first," Jason interjected. "Aslan's been tutoring us. Shall we go create a world?"

"Daddy!"


End file.
